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Poetry Sunday: Mother, Summer, I by Philip Larkin

Like the poet Philip Larkin, I, too, am summer-born and I confess an affinity for the season. I don't even mind the heat and humidity so much - well, as long as there is air conditioning or a shade to retire to! Moreover, I rather enjoy the drama of summer thunderstorms. Indeed summer days seem to me to be "emblems of perfect happiness."

Mother, Summer, I

by Philip Larkin

My mother, who hates thunder storms,
Holds up each summer day and shakes
It out suspiciously, lest swarms
Of grape-dark clouds are lurking there;
But when the August weather breaks
And rains begin, and brittle frost
Sharpens the bird-abandoned air,
Her worried summer look is lost,

And I her son, though summer-born
And summer-loving, none the less
Am easier when the leaves are gone
Too often summer days appear
Emblems of perfect happiness
I can't confront: I must await
A time less bold, less rich, less clear:
An autumn more appropriate.

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Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,June 30, 2024 at 3:53 AM

    Summer is firmly relegated to least favoured status in my life. Heat and humidity do not sit well with me and I am already yearning for the first frost - “an autumn more appropriate.”

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  2. Lark@LarkWritesJune 30, 2024 at 9:25 AM

    I enjoy thunderstorms, too! Maybe it's because I am also summer born. And while I don't love the heat as much now as I did when I was a kid, I do love the long, lazy days of summer. :D Great poem!

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  3. AlanaJune 30, 2024 at 2:42 PM

    I was born on the cusp of fall and winter, but spring is my favorite season. Having said that, I enjoy the lazier pace of summer and am sorry to see it go. I loved the imagery of the first stanza.

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  4. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzJuly 1, 2024 at 7:20 PM

    Is it because I was born in November that I love the fall the most? Of course fall can be too cold for swimming, so there is often the loss of that wonderful experience. Funny that the poet finds summer a season he doesn't want to confront because it appears as an emblem of perfect happiness!

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