The speaker begins worn down by daily anxieties and nighttime fears, feeling cut off from anything that once brought joy. Then June arrives, and summer itself becomes a living force of recovery. Sunshine, the full moon, bursting buds, and the red rose all stir his sluggish blood and wake a fresh desire to live.
Summer is described almost like a caring presence: it lays a soft green carpet outside his door, arches leafy shade above him, fills the nights with stars and the days with birdsong, and seems deliberately to heal his wounds. In the hills, by the brook, or among fields of wheat and rye, he feels close to its heartbeat and breath. The weight of time and worry lifts, and he feels powerful and fully alive again. The mood moves from heaviness and numbness into warmth, comfort, and quiet exhilaration.