THE royalty of midsummer is here! With daisy blooms the meadow lands are white; And over them the birds chant their delight, And the blue, listening heavens bend to hear. Within the lily's painted cup the bee Swings drowsily, and dreams about the rose He loved in June, and how her leaves repose Where none can find them save the winds and he. The trees are heavy with their wealth of green; And under them the waiting maidens walk, And fill the idle hours with girlish talk Of such a knight as never girl has seen, -- How he is noble, good, and princely tall; And one day he will come from his far place, And read the blushes in his true love's face, And she will rise and follow at his call. And then I see a little painted boat, Its white sails set to seek the summer sea, And in that boat two lovers, young and free, With favoring winds, 'neath smiling skies afloat; And all the proud midsummer's glow is come, And all the joy of flower and bird and bee, And all the deeper joy when he and she, Their hearts' midsummer found, with bliss are dumb. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN INTERNATIONAL EPISODE (1889) by CAROLINE KING DUER VAQUERO by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER THE BARREL-ORGAN by ALFRED NOYES ODE TO THE MAGUIRE by EOCHADH O'HUSSEY THE GRAVE OF LOVE by THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK THE DEAMON LOVER by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE CLOUDS: SONG [OR CHORUS] OF THE CLOUDS by ARISTOPHANES SONNET FROM JAPAN: 2. THE SHRINE OF THE PILGRIM SANDALS by ADELAIDE NICHOLS BAKER |