George Orwell Poems >>
Summer-Like

Summer-like for an instant the autumn sun bursts out,
And the light through the turning elms is green and clear;
It slants down the path and ragged marigolds glow
Fiery again, last flames of the dying year.

A blue-tit darts with a flash of wings, to feed
Where the coconut hangs on the pear tree over the well;
He digs at the meat like a tiny pickaxe tapping
With his needle-sharp beak as he clings to the swinging shell.

Then he runs up the trunk, sure-footed and sleek like a mouse,
And perches to sun himself; all his body and brain
Exult in the sudden sunlight, gladly believing
That the cold is over and summer is here again.

But I see the umber clouds that drive for the sun,
And a sorrow no argument ever can make away
Goes through my heart as I think of the nearing winter,
And the transient light that gleams like the ghost of May;

And the bird unaware, blessing the summer eternal,
Joyfully labouring, proud in his strength, gay-plumed,
Unaware of the hawk and the snow and the frost-bound nights,
And of his death foredoomed.

(George Orwell)

More Poetry from George Orwell:

• On A Ruined Farm Near The 'His Master's Voice Gramophone Factory' (George Orwell Poems)
• A Dressed Man (George Orwell Poems)
• A Little Poem (George Orwell Poems)
• The Lesser Evil (George Orwell Poems)
• Sometimes In The Middle Autumn Days (George Orwell Poems)
• Our Minds Are Married, But We are Too Young (George Orwell Poems)

Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:

• One Day And Another: A Lyrical Eclogue - Part IV (Madison Julius Cawein Poems)
• The Fate Of Henry Hudson (Nora Pembroke Poems)
• Medulla Poetarum Romanorum - VOL. II. (Storm - Summer) (Henry Baker Poems)
• The Ghost, (Richard Harris Barham Poems)
• Advice To Hear, And To Read, The Word Of God (Rees Prichard Poems)