Summer — Summary

In this tiny, intimate poem, summer is a person speaking directly to us. The voice says, “I am the season everyone has been yearning for; a lot will change before I disappear.” Then, with a gentle, almost teasing tone, it asks not to be resented for tiring us out with sheer bliss. There’s a playful self-awareness here — the speaker knows that constant pleasure can become as exhausting as pain. Underneath the warmth is a quiet acknowledgment of impermanence: “or e’er I die” reminds us that summer will end, and with it, this particular intensity. The mood is bittersweet in the lightest possible way, like a long, drowsy afternoon that you wish could last forever, even as it overwhelms you. Rather than scolding, Morris offers a graceful excuse for the very nature of happiness — that it sometimes overstays its welcome, and that’s all right.