Longing for Summer

I took myself for a walk this morning to a part of the countryside I had not visited for quite a while. It was enjoyable to see some familiar places, which brought back memories.

There were some signs of spring, with sheep in the fields, spring bulbs flowering and warmer weather.

The winters in England seem very long. Everything I beheld today would look so much better in the sunshine, which seems to lift everything around you. I wanted to share this poem, called ‘The Summer Sun’ by Robert Louis Stevenson, as it seems to reflect the feelings we have about the way summer makes us feel with its warmth and brightness.

Summer Sun

Great is the sun,  and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.
Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.
The dusty attic spider clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.
Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy’s inmost nook.
Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose
The gardener of the World, he goes.

I love how the poem talks about the sun bringing everything to life. There are many lines that ring true, yet I love the last two, that talk about the way the sun pleases the child and paints the rose, the way the sun as a gardener nurtures and makes everything grow. I’ve included some of my personal pictures that I took last Summer as a reminder that the beautiful season is not too far away.

I long for the Summer