July

Nora Hopper Chesson

1871 to 1906

Poem Image

In July 
The cuckoo has an altered cry, 
The peaches on the orchard wall 
Glow as the roses did in June. 
The orchard shadow's green and boon, 
And gold, not silver, is the moon. 
The cuckoo has another call 
In July. 

As one great sapphire glows the sky 
Above the fields of yellowing grain, 
Sunburnt and shrunk the blossomed elder 
Stands in the noon that once beheld her 
Whiter than snowballs of the guelder. 
Fierce is the sun, his kisses stain 
In July. 

The rose remembers she must die 
Before the Swallows quit the eaves; 
And that she may not be forgot 
When winds are cold that now blow hot, 
She sheds her sweets and grudges not 
The falling of her velvet leaves 
In July. 

Well were it, love, that you and I 
Should take example by the rose; 
Sweet all her blossom-time, and sweet 
When her heart opens to the fleet 
June rain, and last, beneath our feet, 
Sweet to the last, as when she glows 
In July.