In this post we’re going to read a gorgeous poem by Madison Julius Cawein (1865–1914). Entitled “A Night in June”, it’s found in Kentucky Poems, an anthology of his works published in New York in 1903.
The poet uses a lot of similes and descriptive language to paint an elaborate and fantastically rich nature scene. The June evening he describes is magical, and the nature in full bloom. However, as we come to realise by the end of the first part, all that is just a setting for the main scene, one of romance and tenderness between two lovers.
Cawein was a wonderful writer but nowadays sadly neglected. If you’re not familiar with his works, do have a look at an earlier post of mine where you can read more about him. And if you’re an English language learner, don’t miss the vocabulary exercises found below the poem (answer key available).
I
White as a lily moulded of Earth's milk
That eve the moon bloomed in a hyacinth sky;
Soft in the gleaming glens the wind went by,
Faint as a phantom clothed in unseen silk:
Bright as a naiad's leap, from shine to shade
The runnel twinkled through the shaken brier;
Above the hills one long cloud, pulsed with fire,
Flashed like a great enchantment-welded blade.
And when the western sky seemed some weird land,
And night a witching spell at whose command
One sloping star fell green from heav'n; and deep
The warm rose opened for the moth to sleep;
Then she, consenting, laid her hands in his,
And lifted up her lips for their first kiss.
II
There where they part, the porch's steps are strewn
With wind-blown petals of the purple vine;
Athwart the porch the shadow of a pine
Cleaves the white moonlight; and like some calm rune
Heaven says to Earth, shines the majestic moon;
And now a meteor draws a lilac line
Across the welkin, as if God would sign
The perfect poem of this night of June.
The wood-wind stirs the flowering chestnut-tree,
Whose curving blossoms strew the glimmering grass
Like crescents that wind-wrinkled waters glass;
And, like a moonstone in a frill of flame,
The dewdrop trembles on the peony,
As in a lover's heart his sweetheart's name.
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1: There are different kinds of trees and flowers mentioned in the poem. Can you identify them?
EXERCISE 2: Match the following words from the poem with their definitions or synonyms:
GLEN | NAIAD | RUNNEL | BRIER | BLADE | ATHWART | WELKIN | MOONSTONE
- a narrow valley
- a prickly shrub
- a water nymph
- a white and translucent gem
- the cutting edge of a knife
- a small stream
- the sky, heavens (archaic)
- across; in opposition to, against
To check your answers, click here for the key.
I hope you liked this poem. If you have any comments or questions about it, please share them below!
COVER IMAGE
“The Pride of Dijon” (1879) by William John Hennessy.
grammaticus 