After the May time, and after the June time Rare with blossoms and perfumes sweet, Cometh the round world's royal noon time, The red midsummer of blazing heat. When the sun, like an eye that never closes, Bends on the earth its fervid gaze, And the winds are still, and the crimson roses Droop and wither and die in its rays. Unto my heart has come that season, O, my lady, my worshiped one, When over the stars of Pride and Reason Sails Love's cloudless, noonday sun. Like a great red ball in my bosom burning With fires that nothing can quench or tame, It glows till my heart itself seems turning Into a liquid lake of flame. The hopes half shy, and the sighs all tender, The dreams and fears of an earlier day, Under the noontide's royal splendor, Droop like roses and wither away. From the hills of doubt no winds are blowing, From the isle of pain no breeze is sent. Only the sun in a white heat glowing Over an ocean of great content. Sink, O my soul, in this golden glory, Die, O my heart, in thy rapture-swoon, For the Autumn must come with its mournful story, And Love's midsummer will fade too soon. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 48 by GEORGE SANTAYANA LINES WRITTEN TO HIS WIFE [WHILE ON A VISIT TO UPPER INDIA] by REGINALD HEBER MONNA INNOMINATA, A SONNET OF SONNETS: 12 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI TO HIM THAT WAS CRUCIFIED by WALT WHITMAN THE LOVER AND THE BIRDS by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM THE CAUTIOUS HOUSEHOLDER by ANAXILAS NEW JERSEY by FRED CLARE BALDWIN |