It’s a GORGEOUS morning here in Connecticut so how about a beautiful photo and poem?
The poem is by Paul Laurence Dunbar, who was the child of freed slaves and the first African-American poet to achieve national acclaim. Enjoy.
Photo by Moses Pendleton
IN SUMMER, by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Oh, summer has clothed the earth
In a cloak from the loom of the sun!
And a mantle, too, of the skies’ soft blue,
And a belt where the rivers run.
And now for the kiss of the wind,
And the touch of the air’s soft hands,
With the rest from strife and the heat of life,
With the freedom of lakes and lands.
I envy the farmer’s boy
Who sings as he follows the plow;
While the shining green of the young blades lean
To the breezes that cool his brow.
He sings to the dewy morn,
No thought of another’s ear;
But the song he sings is a chant for kings
And the whole wide world to hear.
He sings of the joys of life,
Of the pleasures of work and rest,
From an o’erfull heart, without aim or art;
‘T is a song of the merriest.
O ye who toil in the town,
And ye who moil in the mart,
Hear the artless song, and your faith made strong
Shall renew your joy of heart.
Oh, poor were the worth of the world
If never a song were heard,—
If the sting of grief had no relief,
And never a heart were stirred.
So, long as the streams run down,
And as long as the robins trill,
Let us taunt old Care with a merry air,
And sing in the face of ill.
Lovely poem. I learned a new word and now I’m off to moil in my yard.
: )
Like! And isn’t the pic breathtaking, too, Annie?
I just love the photo-Moses always takes such interesting and beautiful photos. I wish I had the photographer’s eye for that kind of perspective. I also really liked the poem, and I’m not usually a fan, because I don’t often understand many poems.
Great poem!! I especially loved the last 2 verses; last summer my life was filled with grief ( I lost a brother at only 50) and I could relate to the sting of grief and its relief. And I also love the idea of taunting Care and singing in the face of ill !
I must have hung around and “hung in there” long enough–a poem I get and really like !! Thank you Ann!!!
perfect poem for a perfect day..and now, off I go to moil in the mart.
Lovely poem/photo for a lovely day! I’m off to seek the kiss of the wind from the back of a horse.
On this beautiful day, my daughter and I walked the beach roads and enjoyed the mantle of the skies soft blue against the ocean, the kiss of the wind and the touch of the air’s soft hand and the breezes that cooled our brow.
What beautiful words in this poem. Just couldn’t help myself.
“if the sting of grief had no relief”
That line speaks to me the most as well. Though the first two times I misread it as “the string of grief” and I was envisioning a stringed instrument, like a violin, with one wire pulled, turned and twisted so tightly that it was almost, but not quite, at its breaking point. I imagined being that string, being forced to make music when I felt like I was being stretched apart from both ends. Wanting to holler, wail and screech – but instead having my agony and desperation used for someone else’s song. It seemed such an apt analogy, and then I realized I’d been reading the word wrongly, which changed the meaning of the entire line!
I misread a lot. But it’s often an interesting ride
Thanks for the stunning image and the poem, Ann. Happy mid-week, everybody ~