Romanian Furrow is an account of months spent living and wandering in Romania in the early 1930s, learning Romanian and helping with the harvests.  First published in 1933, it captured a world soon to be trampled by the juggernauts of war.  A lyrical account of rural life that also transcends Romania, and prods with questions about what we have gained and what we have lost in a more industrial pursuit of agriculture. Hall was also a novelist and he wrote two epic poems – the poet speaks through his prose.  I will share some of his fine metaphors and limpid observations elsewhere. 

“Smell the autumn, it has come now, rich and full of fruit.  In two days we shall be in the mountains.  What fun we shall have.” 

As I also want to use WritingRedux to begin celebrating meaning and beauty in fine fonts, this one seemed appropriate for quotations on the first day of autumn: September Mornings by Brittney Murphy Design, available at creativemarket.com 

Source: Donald Hall, Romanian Furrow (London: Bene Factum Publishing, 2007), p. 84