Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SUMMER'S ADIEU, by JOHN JAY CHAPMAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SUMMER'S ADIEU, by                 Poet Analysis    
First Line: The lanes are green; the skies, bedight
Last Line: Bend and nod and bid farewell.
Subject(s): Farewell; Summer; Parting


The lanes are green; the skies, bedight
With puffs of fleecy clouds, are bright;
All else, asleep -- you'd almost guess --
In deep midsummer leafiness.
But ah, the twinkling poplar-spray!
A little breeze has found its way
Under the beech and cherry tree,
Penetrating busily,
Muttering as it passed the dell
To every fern: "Awake, farewell!"
They stir, they flutter, shift and search
Like maiden dames that doze in church;
Fan themselves and blink again,
While the parson drones, Amen;
Then the summery sleep descends
Half-way before the sermon ends.

Another gust: the gossip leaves,
Roused by the rustle of the sheaves
In neighbor corn-fields, catch the news
And waft each other fond adieux.
Oh, a joyous scene is then
Acted in every little glen;
For the branches toss their tresses
In good-byes that are caresses: --
Farewell, sisters, we have known
Secrets to the world unshown,
Friendships, follies all our own;
All day long such merry meetings,
With our eager whispered greetings;
Sober talks, amusing chatter,
Scandal sweet, and idle patter
On some dear delicious matter;
Starry nights when we have stood
Bathed in a beatitude
By the still, celestial mirth
Of the silent midnight earth;
Fleeting dreamlands when the moon
Swam like a dolphin in a swoon
O'er the mist-encumbered meadows
Chasing the affrighted shadows,
And the daylight came too soon.
We have lived and counted gain
Shower and sunshine, mist or rain,
Loved and lived and loved again.

Thus the leaves in every dell
Bend and nod and bid farewell.





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