A summer sunrise is pictured as a strange, almost mythic event. The sun beats down like a tom-tom drum, waking the day as if it were a jungle; the moon is remembered as a white war canoe tied to the night. Stars flee like frightened hares from the sun, imagined as a great yellow hunter. The middle of the poem shifts from fear to recognition: what looked in darkness like a hunched figure fishing in a pool of black feathers turns out to be a green elm tree. The grass seems to beat weakly against the hard ground, but the robins have lost their fear. The mood is hushed and eerie, then relieved—night’s menacing shapes dissolve into an ordinary, calming midsummer morning.
Midsummer Morn — Summary
A tom-tom sun awakens day's jungle with heat beats The moon was a white war canoe moored to the night Morning stars scurry to cover like shaking hares fearful of the Great Yellow Hunter
Last night's tall hunchback fishing in a pool of raven's breasts is a green elm tree Thin wings of grass pound helplessly against hard ground And the robins are no longer afraid . . .