I conceived of an excellent solution for the incongruous fourth stanza of the “Autumn” poem only to discover—once I considered it in the context of the larger poem—that I had unwittingly created a new problem: its rhyming words shared their diphthongs (/uː/ in “through” and “view”) with those of the very next stanza (that in “dew” and “new”)! This is too overpowering a repetition in the overall structure, and I must now rethink the fourth stanza, once again!

Today, I resumed my writing. I began with a stanza from the “Autumn” poem draft that hitherto I have considered complete, but now find incongruous. I am pleased to report that already I have composed, in rough form, several alternatives. This does, of course, further postpone the completion of the poem, but it cannot be helped!

After a two-month semi-hiatus, I return to the countryside and prepare to resume work on my anthology. “Autumn” is yet unfinished. I had hoped to complete the poem in January, but February is more likely given my poring and deliberate process.