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Summer
by
Christina Rossetti


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Winter is cold-hearted,
Spring is yea and nay,
Autumn is a weathercock
Blown every way.
Summer days for me
When every leaf is on its tree;

When Robin's not a beggar,
And Jenny Wren's a bride,
And larks hang singing, singing, singing
Over the wheat-fields wide,
And anchored lilies ride,
And the pendulum spider
Swings from side to side;

And blue-black beetles transact business,
And gnats fly in a host,
And furry caterpillars hasten
That no time be lost
And moths grow fat and thrive,
And ladybirds arrive

Before green apples blush,
Before green nuts embrown,
Why one day in the country
Is worth a month in town;
Is worth a day and a year
Of the dusty, musty, lag-last fashion
That days drone elsewhere.


This poem is in the public domain.

 



Christina Rossetti (1830 - 1894) was born in England to a family of great literary and artistic talent. A beauty who frequently modeled for her brother Dante and other respected artists of her day, Christina began writing as a child and published her first poem at eighteen. A kind-hearted woman who spent many years as a charity volunteer, Christina’s devout faith was often a central theme in the three books of poetry and four books of devotions she wrote during her life. Though her poems show up consistently in contemporary films, television shows, and musical compositions, her most familiar work is “In the Bleak Midwinter,” which, when set to music, became a beloved Christmas carol.

    

 

 


Post New Comment:
jamvan:
surprisingly modern and thoroughly delightful
Posted 08/02/2021 10:05 PM
Wilda Morris:
An interesting construction! I don't recall having read this poem before. Thank you for sharing it! I'm sure I felt this way as a child whenever I was invited by my Uncle Norman and Aunt Irene to spend some time with them on their little goat farm.
Posted 07/28/2021 12:39 PM
Darrell Arnold:
" . . . . one day in the country Is worth a month in town." Wow! That captures my sentiments, exactly. I'm gonna hafta ponder (those of three of my favorite cowboy words) on this rhyming scheme awhile. But it's clever, and I like it.
Posted 07/28/2021 08:49 AM
Larry Schug:
The well thought out use of the words "And" and "Before" at the beginning of lines adds a certain element of excitement which builds throughout the poem. So much to take in,so little time seems to be the theme.
Posted 07/28/2021 07:53 AM
bobbi43sml@aol.com:
Oh how I love to get lost in a rhyme... this one swings like Stevenson until the last line ,,,,which brings you up empty ...as if to emphasize how it feels without summer.
Posted 07/28/2021 07:39 AM


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