“An Empty-Handed Month”

Once more has August come with feverish veins,
        And warm, wine eyes ‘neath languid lids of snow,
        To loiter where the cool syringas blow
And lift her burning lips to pray for rains,
Or drink the dews the lily-cup contains.
        With mellow voices now the slim brooks flow,
        And velvet tules take on a richer glow;
Wide, high and golden stretch the great hop-plains,
Between the amethyst hills. The breath of musk
        At midnight brings up dreams of the old Nile
        And Cleopatra’s eyes and arms and smile—
Which Nicotiana stars shine thro’ the dusk. . . . .
        But August! What can’st thou bring back to me
        Sweet as the thing that last year went with thee?

 

 

“An Empty-Handed Month” printed in an unidentified publication. Clipping courtesy of the Ella Higginson Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Heritage Resources, Western Washington University, Bellingham Washington.

“An Empty-Handed Month” is believed to be written about either the death of Higginson’s sister Carrie Blake Morgan or their mother Mary A. Reeves.
Higginson dedicated the poem to her niece, Ivy Morgan. Morgan was the only daughter of Higginson’s sister and fellow author Carrie Blake Morgan. Ivy Morgan earned her pharmaceutical degree from the Oregon College of Pharmacy in 1892. When Higginson died on December 27, 1940, Ivy inherited her estate. Unfortunately, Ivy herself would die of liver cancer months later on March 3, 1941 in San Jose, California. She is buried there in an unmarked grave. Higginson’s novel Mariella of Out-West is also dedicated to Ivy Morgan.
Ivy Morgan (1875-1941), date unknown. Picture courtesy of the Ella Higginson Papers, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Heritage Resources, Western Washington University, Bellingham Washington.