Elizabeth Goudge alerted me to that little quote by Donne, a surprising sentiment (in my mind) from a serious metaphysical poet, Dean in the Anglican church, and father of twelve children.
Goudge, woman after my own heart, says this about autumn:
"I have never been a lover of the hot days and I hope John Donne was right when he said it will always be autumn in heaven. Spring is in such a hurry but autumn has the peace of fulfillment and a still warm autumn day, with a touch of cool frost night and morning, is the loveliest weather there is ...." (The Joy of Snow 91)
Mr. Donne takes us deeper:
"God hath made no decree to distinguish the seasons of His mercies; in Paradise, the fruits were ripe the first minute, and in Heaven it is always autumn, His mercies are ever in their maturity. We ask our daily bread, and God never says you should have come yesterday. He never says you must again to-morrow, but to-day if ye will hear His voice, to-day He will hear you.
"He brought light out of darkness, not out of a lesser light; He can bring thy summer out of winter, though thou have no spring; though in the ways of fortune, or understanding, or conscience, thou have been benighted till now, wintred and frozen, clouded and eclipsed, damped and benumbed, smothered and stupified till now, now God comes to thee, not as in the dawning of the day, not as in the bud of the spring, but as the sun at noon, to illustrate all shadows, as the sheaves in harvest, to fill all penuries, all occasions invite His mercies, and all times are His seasons."
~ from Donne's "Occasional Mercies," from Sermons Preached on Christmas Day
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