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“The Harvest Moon” Introduction
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"The Harvest Moon" appeared in Season Songs (1975), a collection Ted Hughes originally intended to write for children but ended up gearing more toward adults. The poem's language is playful, almost nursery rhyme-like, but the scene it paints is alarming: a harvest moon (a full moon in the month of September) that mysteriously disturbs and fascinates people, animals, and plants alike. As the giant red orb grows bigger and bigger, it seems to herald "the end of the world"—or maybe just the coming of winter.
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“The Harvest Moon” Summary
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The autumnal full moon, red as fire, seems to roll and bob along the hilly landscape like a giant balloon. Then it floats up to the lowest part of the sky and rests there like an ancient gold coin. The harvest moon has arrived, and it makes a low, deep noise in the sky, like a big wind instrument. Its sound makes the earth vibrate throughout the night like a huge drum.
It keeps people awake, and they walk outside to where elm and oak trees seem to kneel down in silent prayer. The autumnal full moon has arrived!
Cattle and sheep, glowing in the moonlight, watch the moon in terror. The moon expands to fill the whole sky, seeming extremely hot, and slowly approaches the earth, as if the apocalypse has come.
This goes on until fields full of golden, upright wheat stalks call out, "We're ready to be harvested—harvest us!" and steam rises from rivers in the evaporating hills.
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“The Harvest Moon” Themes
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Seasonal Change and Disruption
"The Harvest Moon" describes the change from twilight to nighttime and from summer to autumn. These changes are marked by the appearance of a giant "harvest moon": a reddish-colored full moon associated with the beginning of fall. The poem portrays the earth as deeply, instinctively attuned to this moon's arrival and the transformation it signals; people, animals, and plants all respond to this moon with a mix of terror, eagerness, and awe. Through these details, the poem depicts seasonal change—especially autumnal change, which often symbolizes a decline toward death—as a disruptive, frightening, and extraordinary force that affects and connects all life on earth.
The poem treats the moon like a powerful authority “booming” down from heaven and which can't be ignored or denied; it's "flame," then a "vast balloon," a "gold doubloon," etc. that "[r]olls," "sinks," "swells," and "sail[s]" through the sky. Its arrival seems to transform the entire earth: the planet itself seemingly "replies" to it "all night, like a deep drum." In other words, the moon's appearance is so dramatic that it seems to rattle the whole planet.
Earth's creatures greet the moon with everything from fear to awe to a kind of joy. People walk outside, mysteriously unable to sleep; trees fall into a "religious hush"; farm animals "Stare [...] petrified" at the swollen moon. Wheat "Cr[ies]" out to be harvested, as if at the moon's signal, while rivers "Sweat" as if in terror or ecstasy. Everything in the poem responds to the seasonal shift that the moon’s arrival signals, perhaps suggesting how all earthly things are linked by, and subject to, the rhythms of nature.
Since the change from summer to winter traditionally symbolizes life's progress toward death, the poem could also be implying that all natural things experience decline and loss (that the world eventually reaps the life it sows). Such decline is normal and inevitable, the poem seems to imply, part of a steady cycle of change that can nevertheless feel like "the end of the world."
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-19
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Fear, Awe, and the Apocalypse
In addition to being a literal (if exaggerated) description of the transition from summer to fall, “Harvest Moon” can be read as an allegory about the apocalypse, particularly the Christian apocalypse depicted in the New Testament. The moon's fiery appearance in heaven seems to herald "the end of the world," causing both terror and wonder among earth's creatures. The personified wheat even cries out to be harvested, echoing biblical language about the "reaping" of souls on Judgment Day. Read in this way, the poem frames the end of the world as a "petrif[ying]" yet anticipated part of the world's cycle, as natural and inevitable as the change from summer to winter.
The poem is filled with religious language and imagery, suggesting that the harvest moon’s arrival is more than an ordinary seasonal event. For example, the moon appears in "heaven" and is "flame-red" (perhaps like hell-fire, or the fire and brimstone that rain down from the sky in the Book of Revelation). Its drum-like "[b]ooming through heaven" seems ominous or warlike (it may allude to the war in heaven that precedes the Last Judgment). Creatures respond to the moon with both anxiety and piety. People walk outside, unable to sleep, while trees maintain a prayer-like "vigil" or "religious hush," as if sensing that some profound or sacred event is underway.
As the poem increasingly echoes apocalyptic Christian literature, especially the Book of Revelation, the moon causes an apocalyptic transformation of the earth. This change is terrifying, yet not unexpected—and even perhaps desired by earth's creatures. Farm animals "stare petrified" at the moon (a possible allusion to animals staring at Jesus's birth; in Christian tradition, the apocalypse ends with the second coming of Jesus). The growing moon "Fill[s] heaven, as if red hot"—another echo of the apocalyptic fire that fills the heavens in Revelation. Finally, the cry of the personified wheat ("We are ripe, reap us!") alludes to language from Revelation about the "reaping" of souls at the Last Judgment. It also implies that the earth isn't just fearfully reacting to this transformation but, on some level, welcoming it.
As an allegory, then, the poem suggests that the end of the world, Judgment, etc. are as natural and necessary as the cycle of the seasons. Frightening as this "end of the world" is, the earth's creatures are drawn to and ultimately seem to accept it.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Line 1
- Lines 6-19
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Harvest Moon”
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Lines 1-5
The flame-red moon, ...
... a gold doubloon.Lines 1-5 ("The flame-red [...] doubloon") introduce the poem's main image: the "harvest moon" of the title. The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the fall equinox, either in September or October. Traditionally, it marks the transition from summer to autumn, which is also the harvest season in farming communities.
At first, the poem portrays the moon playfully, using vivid descriptions and figurative language to evoke its dazzling presence in the twilight sky. This moon is "flame-red" and "vast"; it seems to move like a huge "balloon," slowly "Roll[ing]" and "bouncing" along the hilly horizon. As night falls, it rises: "takes off, and sinks upward / To lie on the bottom of the sky, like a gold doubloon." A doubloon is an antique Spanish coin often associated with pirates and seafaring tales, so this simile (and oxymoron) plays on the familiar image of gold treasure sinking to the bottom of the sea.
Notice, too, how the "balloon" metaphor transitions into the "doubloon" simile within the space of a line, mirroring the rapid visual changes of the moon itself. The moon is an ancient symbol of change, in fact. And over the course of the poem, this harvest moon not only marks a seasonal change but also mysteriously transforms the landscape below. It may even be a warning sign of disaster or doom.
Though the loose, "bouncing" rhythms and gaudy rhymes ("moon"/"balloon"/"doubloon") of this first stanza sound like lighthearted children's verse, the poem's imagery will grow pretty disturbing by the end! An early hint of this shift comes in the poem's ominous first adjective: "flame-red."
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Lines 6-8
The harvest moon ...
... a deep drum.
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Lines 9-12
So people can't ...
... moon has come! -
Lines 13-16
And all the ...
... of the world. -
Lines 17-19
Till the gold ...
... the melting hills.
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“The Harvest Moon” Symbols
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The Harvest Moon
The harvest moon is both the main image and the main symbol in this poem. The moon is a traditional symbol of change, and the harvest moon (the full moon occurring closest to the fall equinox) is specifically associated with the transition from summer to fall. The moon in the poem represents this seasonal change—and possibly apocalyptic change as well (that is, change linked with the end of the world)!
Line 16 compares the swelling, fire-red harvest moon with "the end of the world." While this might be only a hyperbolic simile, some of the poem's other details seem to allude to apocalyptic scenes from the Bible (see Context section for more). Thus, the moon "Filling heaven, as if red hot" (line 15) could symbolize doomsday or the wrath of God, and the harvest itself might symbolize the harvesting of people's souls. (For a folkloric version of this idea, think of the Grim Reaper with his scythe.)
Even if the "end of the world" here is only figurative, it suggests that, for many plants and creatures, the ordinary harvest season brings a kind of apocalypse. Crops will be "reap[ed]" (see line 18), some livestock (such as the "cows" and "sheep" in line 13) may be slaughtered, and the landscape will transition from the vibrancy of summer into the barrenness of winter.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-7
- Line 12
- Lines 13-16
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“The Harvest Moon” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Alliteration adds to the poem's musicality and helps to emphasize its meaning at a few important moments. This device is especially prominent in the first and last stanzas; in lines 3-4, for example, it mimics the "bouncing" and rising of the moon:
[...] Rolls along the hills, gently bouncing,
A vast balloon,
Till it takes off, and sinks upwardThe bold, bouncy /b/ sounds give way to lighter /t/ sounds just as the moon "takes off" into the air. However, /b/ alliteration returns later in the stanza, along with /d/ alliteration, as the moon "Boom[s] softly [...] like a bassoon" and the earth resonates "like a deep drum." In each of these phrases, repeating consonants help evoke the percussive sounds the speaker is describing.
In the final stanza, the strong /r/ sounds in "ripe," "reap," and "rivers" (as well as the /p/ consonance in "ripe"/"reap") underscore the passionate "Cry" of the wheat fields:
[...] 'We are ripe, reap us!' and the rivers
Sweat from the melting hills.More generally, these sounds add emphasis to the climactic moment of the poem, when the harvest moon has its greatest impact on the earth below.
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 2: “bouncing”
- Line 3: “balloon”
- Line 4: “Till,” “takes”
- Line 5: “lie,” “like”
- Line 7: “Booming,” “bassoon”
- Line 8: “deep drum”
- Line 18: “ripe, reap,” “rivers”
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Assonance
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Personification
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Repetition
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Simile
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Metaphor
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Allusion
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“The Harvest Moon” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Harvest moon
- Doubloon
- Bassoon
- Vigil
- Petrified
- Reap
Harvest moon-
(Location in poem: Line 1: “The flame-red moon, the harvest moon,”; Line 6: “The harvest moon has come,”; Line 12: “The harvest moon has come!”)
The full moon that appears closest to the fall equinox (around the third week of September in the northern hemisphere), marking the transition from summer to fall.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Harvest Moon”
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Form
"The Harvest Moon" contains four stanzas of varying length (eight, four, four, and three lines, respectively). It doesn't follow a consistent meter; it's basically a free verse poem, though it does contain some rhymes. In other words, the poem is formally loose, with a rough, irregular music all its own. This style is typical of Hughes's work: his poems tend to be strongly musical while avoiding neat, predictable structures.
"The Harvest Moon," which was published in a volume originally intended for kids, also contains some qualities often found in children's verse, such as playful rhymes and ear-pleasing (but not strict) rhythms. Interestingly, rhyme starts to fade over the course of the poem, even as the imagery grows increasingly ominous. In both form and content, then, the poem becomes less childlike—more grown-up and unsettling—as it goes on.
Although the stanzas don't follow any traditional structure, they do help organize the poem in a logical way. All are end-stopped with a period or exclamation point, and all are fairly self-contained in terms of their subject. The first stanza describes the moon's effect on earth, the second its effect on people and trees, the third its effect on animals, and the fourth its effect on fields and rivers.
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Meter
"The Harvest Moon" doesn't have a meter. Instead, it's written in a kind of loosely rhyming free verse.
That said, there are some noticeably rhythmic moments. The first line of the poem, for instance, follows a roughly iambic (da-DUM, da-DUM) pattern:
The flame-red moon, the harvest moon [...]
Though this rhythm falls away in line 2, the poem returns to it sometimes. Listen to lines 3 and 6, for example:
A vast balloon,
[...]
The harvest moon has come,Again, most lines in the poem don't follow this rhythm. But it surfaces here and there, like a reminder of the steady "Booming" and "drum"-like vibrations (lines 7-8) in the background of this wild scene.
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Rhyme Scheme
"The Harvest Moon" contains rhymes but doesn't follow a regular rhyme scheme. Its stanzas rhyme (or not!) as follows:
ABACADAD EEFD EGHI JKG
The first half of the poem sounds a bit like children's verse, with its "bouncing" cadences and zany rhyme words ("moon," "balloon," "doubloon," "bassoon"). Listen to lines 1-8, for example:
[...] moon, A
[...] bouncing, B
[...] balloon, A
[...] upward C
[...] doubloon. A
[...] come, D
[...] bassoon. A
[...] drum. DInterestingly, though, rhyme fades away as the poem goes on: there's only one rhyme in the final six lines, and it's an easy-to-miss slant rhyme ("swells"/"hills").
This shift may reflect the way the poem's content grows more serious and ominous toward the end. What initially seemed like a delightful, magical presence—the rising harvest moon—starts to look like an omen of "the end of the world" (line 16). In the process, the language starts to sound less like Mother Goose and more like "grown-up" poetry.
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“The Harvest Moon” Speaker
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The poem provides little information about the speaker. It's narrated in the third person (there is no "I"), and for the most part, it presents its scene straightforwardly (though with playful rhythms and colorful figurative language).
The speaker's seemingly neutral tone slips at least once, however: in the exclamation "The harvest moon has come!" (line 12). Here, the speaker sounds excited or alarmed, as if making a fateful announcement. The arrival of a full moon in September wouldn't normally be a big deal, but the speaker seems to feel it is.
If this swollen, fiery moon is, in fact, a sign of "the end of the world"—a possibility raised in line 16—perhaps the speaker's tone here is that of an apocalyptic prophet. The repeated "and"s in the following line—"And all the moonlit cows and all the sheep"—might be a way of reinforcing that idea, since, in older biblical translations like the King James Version, "And" is often used to connect verses.
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“The Harvest Moon” Setting
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"The Harvest Moon" is set in a rural landscape containing "elms," "oak trees," "cows," "sheep," "wheat," "rivers," and "hills." It takes place during the change from day to night and from summer to fall. Both transitions are marked by the appearance of a "harvest moon," or full moon occurring near the fall equinox.
This farmland is, in fact, ready to be harvested: the wheat fields "Cry 'We are ripe, reap us!'" But it's not clear whether the harvest is meant to be literal or symbolic. After all, the harvest moon looks "like the end of the world"; it seems to be getting larger and closer to earth, disturbing people's sleep and terrifying livestock. As such, this might be an apocalyptic setting—modeled, probably, on the biblical Book of Revelation, which contains a "blood-red" moon, the reaping of the "harvest of the earth," etc.
This allegorical interpretation would help explain the "religious hush" of the trees and the ominous "Booming" of the moon in the skies. Alternatively, the poem might just be a hyperbolic account of an unusually large full moon, which signals the end of summer and the chilling approach of winter.
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Harvest Moon”
Literary Context
Ted Hughes (1930-1998) is one of the best-known British poets of the 20th century. His 1957 debut, The Hawk in the Rain, was a shock to the system of UK poetry; its percussive rhythms and raw imagery challenged the dominance of more restrained and formal poets, like Philip Larkin. Many well-known Hughes poems, such as "Wind" and "Hawk Roosting," depict the power and violence of the natural world. Hughes's writing was also deeply influenced by his first wife, fellow poet Sylvia Plath; during their (often tormented) marriage, the pair produced a rich, unsettling body of work.
"The Harvest Moon" appears in Season Songs (1975), a volume that was originally intended for kids but that, according to Hughes, "grew up" as he wrote it. The critic Nicholas Bland has written:
The syntax in Season Songs doesn’t exclude children from enjoying and understanding much of the verse. But some of the collection’s major themes transcend childhood experience. [...] Even so, the legacy of Hughes’s desire that the collection should appeal to children remains evident.
Readers can hear a playful, Mother Goose quality in some of the rhythms and rhymes ("moon," "balloon," etc.) of "The Harvest Moon." But by the end, the poem isn't especially playful! Its imagery alludes to the apocalyptic scenes in the biblical Book of Revelation, in which "the moon became as blood" and an angel cries for the metaphorical "reaping" of human souls:
Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Historical Context
Ted Hughes was born in Mytholmroyd in Yorkshire, England, in 1930. The poems of Season Songs, like much of his work, are influenced by the rural landscape of his upbringing. Hughes's father served in World War I, and the shadow of both world wars also informed Hughes's observations of nature and humanity.
Over the course of his prolific career (which ran from the 1950s until his death in 1998), Hughes saw major social change in the UK. He began publishing his work in a period of rapid post-war urbanization and industrialization, during which Britain saw a manufacturing boom in ships, cars, metals, textiles, and more. With this boom, however, came increasing pollution and destruction of natural environments. Hughes's poetry, with its interest in wild nature and often ominous (or apocalyptic) overtones, can be read as a skeptical response to the post-war enthusiasm for "civilized" progress.
"The Harvest Moon" takes place in a timeless-seeming rural landscape. It contains no historical references, apart from the metaphor of the "gold doubloon" (a Spanish gold coin last minted in 1849). This timeless quality is typical of Hughes's rural and nature poetry. However, if the poem is meant to depict the actual "end of the world" (as opposed to a seasonal change that feels apocalyptic), it might be set in the future!
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More “The Harvest Moon” Resources
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External Resources
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A Hughes Documentary — Watch a film about Hughes's life and poetry.
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Hughes, Remembered — Read the 1998 New York Times obituary of Hughes, which discusses his controversial life and career.
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An Interview with Hughes and Plath — Listen to a 1961 joint interview with Hughes and his first wife, American poet Sylvia Plath.
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The Poet's Life and Work — Read a short biography of Ted Hughes at the Poetry Foundation.
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Exploring Hughes's Poems — Three scholars at Cambridge, Hughes's alma mater, discuss the poet's work.
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What's a Harvest Moon? — Learn more about the harvest moon from The Old Farmer's Almanac.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ted Hughes
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