A lot of traditional Chinese poetry is infused with a melancholy that seems to fit the autumn days. Autumn can be melancholy (end of summer, approaching winter, things dying), as well as joyful (all that colour). This is a poem by Ts'en Shen (715-70).

The water of the Wei River flows away eastward,

When will it reach Yungchow?

I use it to add a double stream of tears,

And send them flowing down to my old home.