gauging the evening

in truth as the thermometer's numbers fall
i wonder at the need to measure warm and cold
we know the feelings know when to be bold
and wear little and when to don cloak and shawl
the numbers though their digits just enthrall
the mind we want to be properly told
the measure of the day not just to scold
weather's vagaries but not to feel so small
in the face of nature's force that's the reason
we keep the numbers there and watch the change
as day succeeds day over the year's long course
even though once we know what the season
is then we know what temperatures will range
over the day but knowledge wants a source