The Wind Upon a Summer Day by Marie Van Vorst
The poem contrasts the sweetness of a summer day with the sadness of a winter dawn. In summer, wind, shaking trees, shifting shadows, bending rye, and blue flowers accompany the joy of loving someone throughout the season. In winter, leafless trees, frozen meadows, a snowy sky, and the old year’s bitterness intensify the sorrow of lacking that person throughout the winter.
By Marie Van Vorst · First published 1904 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Nature Poetry · 141 words
First lines
The wind upon a summer day / How sweet it is! The shaking trees, / The shifting shadows as they lie / Across the grass, the bending rye, / The blue flowers in the grain, -- and you / To love the livelong summer through -- / There are no sweeter things than these.
The dawning of a winter day / How sad it is! The leafless trees, / The frozen meadow lands that lie / Leaden beneath a snowy sky; / The old year's bitterness, -- and you / To lack the livelong winter through -- / There are no sadder things than these.
What this Textopian page supports
The Wind Upon a Summer Day is listed on Textopian as a poem by Marie Van Vorst, dated 1904 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Marie Van Vorst
- Date: 1904 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Love Poetry, Nature Poetry, Seasonal Poetry, Pastoral Poetry
- Length: 141 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Wind Upon a Summer Day by Marie Van Vorst
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Similar titles
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a brief, highly musical poem centered on the speaker's immediate emotional response to seasonal scenes and love.
- Love Poetry — Its central contrast is between having a beloved to love throughout summer and lacking that person throughout winter.
- Nature Poetry — Detailed natural imagery—including wind, trees, shadows, rye, flowers, snow, and leafless woods—carries the poem's mood and meaning.
- Seasonal Poetry — The poem is explicitly structured around opposing summer and winter days, using the seasons to express joy and sorrow.
Tags
fiction · novel · romance · social drama · American literature · early 20th century · realist fiction · society life · upper-class characters · love and marriage · personal relationships · emotional conflict