A November Day (Poem by Duncan Campbell Scott)

A November Day

By Duncan Campbell Scott

There are no clouds above the world,

    But just a round of limpid grey,

Barred here with nacreous lines unfurled,

    That seem to crown the autumnal day,

With rings of silver chased and pearled.

The moistened leaves along the ground,

    Lie heavy in an aureate floor;

The air is lingering in a swound;

    Afar from some enchanted shore,

Silence has blown instead of sound.

The trees all flushed with tender pink

    Are floating in the liquid air,

Each twig appears a shadowy link,

    To keep the branches mooréd there,

Lest all might drift or sway and sink.

This world might be a valley low,

    In some lost ocean grey and old,

Where sea-plants film the silver flow,

    Where waters swing above the gold

Of galleons sunken long ago.

Poem Analysis:

Duncan Campbell Scott’s poem A November Day captures the delicate and ethereal beauty of late autumn through striking imagery and a contemplative tone. The poem is an exploration of the stillness and transitory magic of nature as autumn transitions toward winter. Using intricate descriptions of color, light, and atmosphere, Scott creates a dreamlike vision of the natural world, blending the physical landscape with a sense of memory, silence, and timelessness.

Structure and Form

The poem is composed of four stanzas, each with five lines (a cinquain). This form gives the poem a rhythmic, contained structure that mirrors the quiet, suspended moment the poet describes. The rhyme scheme, though subtle and not strictly consistent, uses paired rhymes and internal assonance — for instance, "grey" and "day" in stanza one, or "air" and "there" in stanza three. This musicality enhances the serene, floating quality of the poem’s imagery.

The lines are written in a measured, almost meditative cadence, which mirrors the slow, dreamlike pace of the natural scene. This pacing allows readers to linger on the visual details, much like the way the speaker lingers on the fleeting beauty of the day.

Themes

1. Transience and Stillness

The poem captures a moment in time, suspended between seasons. November is a transitional month — the brilliance of autumn is fading, and winter’s austerity is beginning to appear. Scott’s imagery emphasizes stillness, as if nature itself has paused:

“The air is lingering in a swound;

Afar from some enchanted shore,

Silence has blown instead of sound.”

The use of “swound,” meaning faint or swoon, conveys a sense of the world being in a quiet, dreamlike state. The silence described here is not empty but charged with a kind of mystical presence, suggesting a moment of reflection or reverence.

2. The Interplay of Light and Color

Scott’s palette of imagery is rich with soft colors — “limpid grey,” “rings of silver,” “aureate floor,” “tender pink.” These descriptions highlight the muted, pastel tones of a November landscape. The image of “moistened leaves… an aureate floor” creates a vivid picture of golden autumn leaves saturated with dew or rain, their brilliance subdued but not lost.

The blending of colors, such as the “tender pink” of the trees against the “liquid air,” lends the poem a painterly quality. It reads almost like an impressionist painting, where the boundaries of objects dissolve into light and atmosphere.

3. Nature as a Dreamscape

In the final stanza, Scott takes a more imaginative turn, likening the November world to an underwater realm:

“This world might be a valley low,

In some lost ocean grey and old,

Where sea-plants film the silver flow,

Where waters swing above the gold

Of galleons sunken long ago.”

This metaphor transforms the quiet, misty November landscape into a sunken, dreamlike world, as if the day itself is submerged in memory and time. The comparison to “galleons sunken long ago” evokes both a sense of loss and a beauty that endures beneath the surface.

Imagery and Symbolism

Scott’s imagery is rich with symbols that elevate the scene beyond mere description:

• “Round of limpid grey” — The sky, cloudless and pale, suggests both clarity and emptiness, symbolizing the liminal state of the season.
• “Aureate floor” — The fallen leaves form a golden carpet, representing the remnants of autumn’s beauty.
• “Shadowy link” — Each twig is described as holding the branches in place, as if the trees themselves might float away. This suggests a fragile connection between the earth and the ethereal world above.
• “Lost ocean grey and old” — The underwater imagery symbolizes both timelessness and the idea that the natural world holds hidden treasures — memories of seasons past, like “galleons” buried in time.

Tone and Mood

The tone of the poem is contemplative, wistful, and slightly otherworldly. Scott does not simply describe the landscape; he imbues it with a sense of wonder and quiet reverence. Words like “enchanted,” “swound,” and “film the silver flow” create an atmosphere of magic and delicate beauty.

The mood shifts slightly in the final stanza, where the underwater metaphor introduces a tone of nostalgia and mystery. The reference to “galleons sunken long ago” suggests the weight of history and memory, as if the beauty of the day is both fleeting and eternal, like treasures preserved beneath the waves.

Interpretation

A November Day is not just a nature poem; it is a meditation on the passage of time and the layers of beauty that can be found in moments of stillness. Scott portrays November as a season of subtle richness, where the vibrancy of autumn is subdued but not lost, replaced by a softer, more reflective beauty.

The final stanza’s underwater metaphor may also symbolize how moments of beauty and meaning often feel distant or submerged in memory. Just as galleons rest hidden beneath the sea, the splendor of past seasons — or even past stages of life — lingers beneath the surface of the present moment.

Duncan Campbell Scott’s A November Day is a masterful depiction of late autumn’s quiet grandeur. Through delicate imagery, fluid metaphors, and a tone of hushed reverence, the poem captures the fleeting beauty of a November landscape, transforming it into a dreamlike, almost mystical experience. It invites readers to pause and perceive the subtle treasures hidden in the world — the “aureate floor” of fallen leaves, the “shadowy link” of branches, and the imagined “galleons sunken long ago.”