Ode to Summer

"Summer afternoon— summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." -Henry James

“Winter is icummen in,

Lhude (loudly) sing Goddamm,

Raineth drop and staineth slop

And how the wind doth ramm!

Sing: Goddamm.

Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,

An ague hath my ham.

Freezeth river, turneth liver

Damn you, sing: Goddamm.

Goddamm, Goddamm, tis why I am,

Goddamm.

So 'gainst the winter's balm

Sing Goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm

Sing Goddamm, sing Goddamm,

DAMM.“

-Ezra Pound

Yes, yes we are celebrating the lusciousness of summer, but as John Steinbeck noted, “"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?"

And also, I frankly adore this Ezra Pound parody of the medieval round, “Summer Is Icumin In,” and repeat it to myself at the start of every Alaskan winter. (But perish the thought of winter now!)

Here are the words and music to the sweet and lovely 13th century, oldest known musical composition of its kind that Little John is whistling just before he meets Robin Hood in the 1938 film with Errol Flynn:

“Summer is a comin’ in,

Loudly sing, Cuckoo!

Groweth seed and bloweth mead,

And springeth wood anew,

Sing, Cuckoo!

Ewe bleateth after lamb

The cow lows after the calf.

Bullock starteth buck, too,

Merrily sing, Cuckoo!

Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing,

cuckoo;

Of cease thee never now, Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo!”

I’m reveling in the high-summer, lawn-mowing*, garden-tending, flower-gathering, mountain-hiking, pool-swimming, bike-riding, everything-growing energy inside of the lush, languorous, lazy, sun-lit days, and hope you are too! Here in the land of the Midnight Sun, where the orb never sets, we enjoy continuous, pure sunlight 24/7 for 70 days from May til the end of July. It always feels magical.

*(The future is unmown!)

“How sweet is the sun, is the sun

How sweet is the sun

With the birds, with the summer months

the notes of a run

How sweet, sweet is the sun.”

-Louis Zukofsky

There are so many wonderful covers of George Gershwin’s jazz hit, “Summertime,” from his 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess. Willie Nelson, Sam Cooke, Norah Jones, Doc Watson, Ella Fitzgerald, Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday are probably the best known artists who have popularized it over and over and over. Here are my two favorites. Enjoy!

"We know summer is the height of being alive." -Gary Shteyngart

And sometimes I think it’s the sol reason for living.

What is your favorite way to while away a summer day? Camping? Fishing? Gardening? Swimming? Hiking? Reading in a patch of sun? All of the above?

May the sacredness of the sun and the qualities of its healing, golden light lure you out into nature, my friends, where you might savour these lambent, laid-back, de-light-full summer days.

"Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer." -Nat King Cole