Midsummer

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



After the May time and after the June time
Rare with blossoms and perfume sweet,
Cometh the round world's royal noon time,
The red midsummer of blazing heat,
When the sun, like an eye that never closes,
Bends on the earth its fervid gaze,
And the winds are still, and the crimson roses
Droop and wither and die in its rays.
Unto my heart has come this season,
O, my lady, my worshiped one,
When, over the stars of Pride and Reason,
Sails Love's cloudless, noonday sun.
Like a great red ball in my bosom burning
With fires that nothing can quench or tame,
It glows till my heart itself seems turning
Into a liquid lake of flame.
The hopes half shy and the sighs all tender,
The dreams and fears of an earlier day,
Under the noontide's royal splendor,
Droop like roses, and wither away.
From the hills of Doubt no winds are blowing,
From the isles of Pain no breeze is sent, -
Only the sun in a white heat glowing
Over an ocean of great content.
Sink, O my soul, in this golden glory!
Die, O my heart, in thy rapture-swoon!
For the Autumn must come with its mournful story.
And Love's midsummer will fade too soon.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:04 min read
47

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEEEEFGFGHIHIFJFJKLKL
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,093
Words 212
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 28

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

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