I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.
Credits
Carl Sandburg was an American poet, celebrated for his vivid, free-verse portraits of the American landscape and working life. He won three Pulitzer Prizes across his career, two for poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. "Theme in Yellow" showcases his gift for adopting an unexpected perspective — here, the humble pumpkin — to capture the warmth and mischief of the Halloween season.
