Author: Madison Julius Cawein

---

    What joy you take in making hotness hotter,
    In emphasising dulness with your buzz,
    Making monotony more monotonous!
    When Summer comes, and drouth hath dried the water
    In all the creeks, we hear your ragged rasp
    Filling the stillness. Or, as urchins beat
    A stagnant pond whereon the bubbles gasp,
    Your switch-like music whips the midday heat.
    O bur of sound caught in the Summer's hair,
    We hear you everywhere!

    We hear you in the vines and berry-brambles,
    Along the unkempt lanes, among the weeds,
    Amid the shadeless meadows, gray with seeds,
    And by the wood 'round which the rail-fence rambles,
    Sawing the sunlight with your sultry saw.
    Or, like to tomboy truants, at their play
    With noisy mirth among the barn's deep straw,
    You sing away the careless summer-day.
    O brier-like voice that clings in idleness
    To Summer's drowsy dress!

    You tramp of insects, vagrant and unheeding,
    Improvident, who of the summer make
    One long green mealtime, and for winter take
    No care, aye singing or just merely feeding!
    Happy-go-lucky vagabond, 'though frost
    Shall pierce, ere long, your green coat or your brown,
    And pinch your body, let no song be lost,
    But as you lived into your grave go down
    Like some small poet with his little rhyme,
    Forgotten of all time.

---

Type of Poem: Lyric Poem

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This poem presents a vivid exploration of the natural world, specifically focusing on the theme of summer and the insects that inhabit it. A sense of joyous energy and relentless activity pervades the poem, embodied in the constant buzzing of insects. The poet manages to extract a sense of beauty and purpose from what might be perceived as monotonous or annoying sounds. The tone is generally appreciative, yet also carries subtle undercurrents of melancholy, particularly as the poem anticipates the inevitable arrival of winter.

The structure of the poem is consistent, with each stanza encapsulating a specific aspect of the insects' life cycle within the broader context of summer. The use of rich imagery is a key feature, with the insects' buzz likened to a "bur of sound caught in the Summer's hair" and a "brier-like voice that clings in idleness to Summer's drowsy dress." The poet also employs personification to imbue the insects with human-like qualities, framing them as carefree vagabonds that live for the present. The closing lines add a poignant touch, likening the insects to "small poets with their little rhyme," suggesting the fleeting and often overlooked beauty of their existence.