Howard Nemerov - The End of Summer School lyrics

At dawn today the spider's web was cold With dew heavy as silver to the sight, Where, kicked and spun, with clear wings befouled, Lay in the shrouds some victims of the night This morning, too, as if they had decided, A few first leaves came loose and drifted down Still slopes of air; in silence they paraded Their ominous detachment to the lawn. How strange and slow the many apples ripened And suddenly are red beneath the bough. A master of our school has said this happened 'Quiet as gra** can ruminate a cow'. And now the seeds go on their voyages, Drifting, gliding, spinning in quiet storms Obedient to the air's lightest laws; And where they fall, a few will find their forms. Now baby spiders, on their shining threads, The middle air make glisten gold all day; Sailing, as if the sun had blessed their roads, Hundreds of miles, and sometimes out to sea. This is the end of summer school, the change Behind the green wall and the steady weather: Something that turns upon a hidden hinge Brings down the dead leaf and live seed together, And of the strength that slowly warps the stars To strange harbors, the learned pupil knows How adamant the anvil, fierce the hearth Where imperceptible summer turns the rose.