November . . .
No shadow
No stars
No moon
No care
November
It only believes
In a pile of dead leaves
And a moon
That’s the color of boneNo prayers for November
To linger longer
Stick your spoon in the wall
We’ll slaughter them allNovember has tied me
To an old dead tree
Get word to April
To rescue me
November’s cold chainMade of wet boots and rain
And shiny black ravens
On chimney smoke lanes
November seems odd
You’re my firing squad
NovemberWith my hair slicked back
With carrion shellac
With the blood from a pheasant
And the bone from a hareTied to the branches
Of a roebuck stag
Left to wave in the timber
Like a buck shot flagGo away you rainsnout
Go away, blow your brains out
November– Tom Waits
Gotta agree with Tom that November is pretty depressing. How do you deal with the November blues?
casa azahar 
Right now it’s not so hard – the bluest thing I can think of is the colour of the sky 🙂
Generally, my main antidote for many things is an appropriate, momment- or mood-relevant choice of music. Works for me at least. Whether I want to turn a mood or prolong it.
As to Tom Waitts, btw – did you hear Diana Krall sing “Temptation”? Gives me goosebumps on a regular basis, it does – rather sexy, I’ll have to admit…
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No, I’ve never heard Diana Krall sing ‘Temptation’, but I do agree that it’s a very sexy song. I’ll have to check out Krall’s version.
Nog and I are dealing with November by doing more ‘cosy-at-home’ stuff. It’s actually a very nice feeling when it’s pissing down with rain out there and all grey and gloomy, to be able to stay in and read a book or watch a film on dvd together.
Of course we often have to be out there in the rain getting to and from our various classes. 😕
We’re also making more ‘comfort food’ meals, which isn’t helping with my weight-loss programme, but it does feel nice to do this.
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Yesterday we had our first frost. Today the sky is blue but it’s not quite so cold. I love this month.
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I love that poem, so atmospheric. But I don’t really have too much trouble with November, or the blues (I am lucky, I guess).
Right now the sky is extremely bright blue and the sun is bringing the yellow elm leaves into a blaze. I wish it was raining, we need the water!
When I am blue, I like to play The Eagles “Hell Freezes Over” really really loud and sing along with “GET OVER IT!” Then I put on some Jimmy Buffett, or big band jazz, or Bonnie Raitt, or Berlioz Requiem, and count my blessings as I sip a nice glass of merlot.
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It’s actually a wonderful song by Tom Waits. With his gravelly voice lamenting all about November. Though it does read quite nicely as a poem, I think.
It’s on his Black Rider cd, if you get a chance to check it out.
It’s totally pissing down here, all grey skies, Nog has gone back to bed …
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Today was beautiful here, so on days like this I quickly forget the gloom and the rain. I went down to a local beach with the kids, and forgot all my troubles. So long as its not raining it’s not such a bad month.
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I’d hate it if it rained in autumn- I think that is why spring is my least favorite season, all the endless rainy days and nights. I don’t blame you wanting to hide indoors and avoid the rain!
November here is usually crisp and cool, and it seldom rains (though it might snow a bit). I’m actually going out for a nice walk in a little bit. It’s a gorgeous day for a walk- 34.9°F (1.6°C) and sunny, with very little wind.
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Novembers in Toronto were often rainy and with lots of wet dead leaves everywhere. Heavy grey skies … very melancholy-making. Yeah sure, you got the occasional crisp, cool and clear day (though those mostly happened in September and October) but mostly November sucked.
That’s why I love that song so much. It creates the worst-ever November scenario you can imagine, so what you end up experiencing is far better (even when it’s shit). Also, I love his writing, just love Tom. So there.
Actually, it rained a bit here in the morning today and then cleared up and got up to 25ºC – can’t seriously complain as I’m still able to wear sandals. 😎
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Nothing much wrong with November where I am – blue skies, warm days, birds twittering and carrying on, and pollen. Lots and lots of pollen. So I deal with November by taking large doses of antihistamines.
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I was expecting that … of course November is spring where you are, Ivan.
But anyhoodle, it’s pretty clear that Tom Waits doesn’t live in Australia.
Gee – next you’ll be telling me you don’t like the raven! 😉
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No, I like the raven, even if it is a bird of ill omen…
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And do you like my numbat?
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I’m sure I would if I could actually see it! Is it cute? It looks cute from here, but that might just be cos it’s so tiny. Still, way better than the ?? … 🙂
Next you’ll be signing up with bloglines!
Um, have aliens taken over your body for the weekend?
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I’m fascinated by ravens – Ireland seems to have a preponderance of rooks – they’re everywhere. Damn ugly birds into the bargain. Ravens, though, are much rarer. It’s really nice to go to the mountains and to hear them call, particularly when all around is total silence.
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The aliens took control for a few moments, yes. And numbats are cute. Here’s some more. http://images.google.com.au/images?hl=en&q=numbat
The fact that I haven’t turned that link into some sort of highlighted word or whatever shows that I’m back to my normal self now.
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There seems to be a lot of odd bats downunder 😀
A (swedish)friend of mine is more or less obsessed by wombats. So a common friend of ours, very good making graphics made a wombat
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(if the link is broken it’s a flying wombat with batwings 😀 )
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This is the November poem I remember. Not sure who wrote it,
No sun – no moon
No morn – no noon
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease
No comfortable feel in any member –
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds.
November
Here in SE Englandshire we currently have – most trees still in full leaf; brilliant green grass, as it’s finally recovered from the baking it got in the summer; a plague of wasps; blue skies and sunshine.
The only thing that’s remotely ‘in season’ is the lack of colourful flowers since the hard frosts of the last few nights has killed off the last of the summer plants.
February’s always been another dreich month. I wonder what 2007 will bring. Perhaps 6ft snow drifts?
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I spent several hours looking for that poem yesterday. The poem was written by Thomas Hood who died in 1845 at the age of 46. The date given for the poem is 1844.
I found a longer version;
No sun – no moon!
No morn – no noon –
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day –
No sky – no earthly view –
No distance looking blue –
No road – no street – no “t’other side the way” –
No end to any Row –
No indications where the Crescents go –
No top to any steeple –
No recognitions of familiar people –
No courtesies for showing ’em –
No knowing ’em! –
No travelling at all – no locomotion,
No inkling of the way – no notion –
“No go” – by land or ocean –
No mail – no post –
No news from any foreign coast –
No Park – No Ring – no afternoon gentility –
No company – no nobility –
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member –
No shade, no shine, no butterfl ies, no bees,
No fruits, no fl owers, no leaves, no birds –
November!
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Aha! I found it. Written by Thomas Hood
Fabulous. And I reckon Tom must have read this at some point. Or perhaps his wife, who is his constant collaborator these days and has Irish/Celtic roots.
As for February, I think it’s kind of a tie there as for which month is more ick. I guess I like the melancholy of November somehow … February at least has the hope of spring following very shortly.
In November all we have to look forward to is shorter days and crappy weather.
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I agree about that last — was just thinking about that yesterday. It was warm and sunny when I went into the grocery, and dark and cold when I came out — 40 minutes later!
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Sorry alji, I just found your comment 19 in my spam file. I see you beat me to it (by 20 minutes!) and even found a longer version. 🙂
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I wondered where it had gone and if it would come back. My wife hadn’t heard of the poem and I went through every poem in Palgrave’s Golden Treasury trying to find it.
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I think November is particularly sombre because summer suddenly seems so long ago, and spring so far in the future.
And of course here in the UK we have the Remembrance Sunday which is the closest sunday to 11 November, when people wear poppies and lay wreathes on war memorials. We have the 2 minutes silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, which was Armistice at the end of WW1. But which we now remember all those Brits who died in all wars.
Just heard on the radio that someone died at a Guy Fawkes celebration when something in a bonfire exploded. This seems to happen every year.
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I’m fairly sure that Somerset Maugham came up with :
“No sun, no fun, November”
So it seems he was plagiarising.
Yeah…I’ve had a sudden (minor) wave of the SAD blues. And at the weekend, I could hardly stay awake!
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It’s been a bit too warm for November here, but it’s only rained two mornings out of eight, so I can’t complain too much. I just wish it would cool off and FEEL like autumn already.
Shorter days (or fewer hours of daylight, anyway) make me sleepy, too- I just want to fall asleep a couple of hours after sunset, which this time of year means I’m trying to doze off before the workday ends. 😉 I feel really bad for people with SAD- it must be so hard to function when your body wants to go into hibernation mode!
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Okay, it’s officially November this week. Had to start wearing shoes (instead of sandals), and also my raincoat and on Monday we put the duvet on the bed.
Finally! But that only gives us a week to get all melancholy and mope properly …
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