"Autumn… the year’s last, loveliest smile"

That beautiful sentiment about autumn was expressed by William Cullen Bryant, an American nature poet and journalist. Born on November 3, 1794 in Massachusetts, he grew to have a love of science and geology which he reflects upon through his written work. His  poetry focusing on nature has been described as a metaphor for truth, and established a central pattern in the American literary tradition.​

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Working in the education field, there is a continuous movement to support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) and the sister educational approach STEAM which also incorporates the Arts.  Taking a holistic approach to education and allowing these different spheres to influence and support the others provides multiple avenues for different style learners to thrive.  
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The philosophy of STEAM revolves around the concept:
STEAM = Science & Technology interpreted through
Engineering & the Arts, all based in Mathematical elements.

Just as all of the natural processes on earth are interconnected, so too are the ways in which we perceive and learn about the world.  And what better way to celebrate this concept than to use poetry to reflect upon the beauty of nature!

​In honor of the month of November, here are Bryant's visions of this autumn month:

NOVEMBER

"Yet one smile more, departing, distant sun! One mellow smile through the soft vapory air, Ere, o’er the frozen earth, the loud winds run, Or snows are sifted o’er the meadows bare. One smile on the brown hills and naked trees, And the dark rocks whose summer wreaths are cast, And the blue gentian flower, that, in the breeze, Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last. Yet a few sunny days, in which the bee Shall murmur by the hedge that skirts the way, The cricket chirp upon the russet lea, And man delight to linger in thy ray. Yet one rich smile, and we will try to bear The piercing winter frost, and winds, and darkened air"
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William Cullen Bryant, 1794 - 1878

.Asher Durand's Kindred Spirits depicts William Cullen Bryant with Thomas Cole, in this quintessentially Hudson River School work.