in Thoreau’s Journal:

P. M. – To Poplar Hill & the Great Fields.

It is still cool weather with a NW wind—  There is more shadow in the landscape than a week ago—methinks—& the creak of the cricket sounds cool & steady.  The grass & foliage—and landscape generally are of a more thought inspiring color—  —suggest what some perchance would call a pleasing melancholy— 

In some meadows, as I look southwesterly the aftermath looks a bright yellowish-green—in patches— Both willows & poplars have leaves of a light-color at least beneath—contrasting with most other trees—This weather is a preface to autumn.