《四季随笔》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中对隐士赖克罗夫特醉心于书籍、自然景色与回忆过去生活的描述，其实是吉辛的自述，作者以此来抒发自己的情感，因而本书是一部富有自传色彩的小品文集。

吉辛穷困的一生，对文学名著的爱好与追求，以及对大自然恬静生活的向往，在书中均有充分的反映。本书分为春、夏、秋、冬四个部分，文笔优美，行文流畅，是英国文学中小品文的珍品之一。

以下是由网友分享的《四季随笔》节选 - 秋 01的内容，让我们一起来感受吉辛的四季吧!

This has been a year of long sunshine. Month has followed upon month with little unkindness of the sky; I scarcely marked when July passed into August, August into September. I should think it summer still, but that I see the lanes yellow-purfled with flowers of autumn.

这一年日照的时间特别长。月复一月，天气很少有不好的时候。当七月变成八月，八月进入九月时，我几乎都没有察觉。要不是看到小径边上点缀着的黄色秋花，我还觉得现在是夏天呢。

I am busy with the hawkweeds; that is to say, I am learning to distinguish and to name as many as I can. For scientific classification I have little mind; it does not happen to fall in with my habits of thought; but I like to be able to give its name (the "trivial" by choice) to every flower I meet in my walks. Why should I be content to say, "Oh, it's a hawkweed"? That is but one degree less ungracious than if I dismissed all the yellow-rayed as "dandelions." I feel as if the flower were pleased by my recognition of its personality. Seeing how much I owe them, one and all, the least I can do is to greet them severally. For the same reason I had rather say "hawkweed" than "hieracium"; the homelier word has more of kindly friendship.

我正忙着结交山柳菊属植物呢；也就是说，我正学着区分辨认这些植物，熟悉他们的各种名称呢。对于科学分类我是不关心的，它不符合我的思维习惯；但是我喜欢在散步时能够叫出路上遇到的任何一朵花的名字（我愿意叫它们的“俗名”）。我怎能满足于只是说：“哦，这是一种山柳菊”呢？这和将一切有黄色放射状花冠的植物都轻率地叫做“蒲公英”几乎一样无礼。我感觉，花儿们似乎会因为我认出它们的身份而高兴。想到我亏欠它们那么许多，我至少应该与它们一一打招呼。出于同样的原因，我宁愿说它们的英文名字“山柳菊”，也不愿称呼它们的拉丁语名字；因为家常一点的名字听起来更加友好亲切。