Literature
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“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” - The Great Gatsby This classic summer quote by The Great Gatsby is still iconic though many poets and writers have taken a particular interest in summer literature, gifting us with splendid summer fantasies, scenic descriptions of the season and splendid summer quotes to read when we need a warm hug from our favourite books. Writers as early as Shakespeare have written plots around the season and given us timeless summer quotes. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of Shakespeare’s favourite plays, is set in Athens around the summer season. It is comedic, light-hearted and most importantly features romance and marriage. The Summer season is seen as symbolic of youth, innocence, joy, freedom and adventure among other things, hence setting the tone for budding Romances, stories of adventure and new beginnings. Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 compares the lover and her beauty to the summer. Summer in this case sets the tone for passionate feelings, such as love and lust.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. In William Wordsworth’s poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, the speaker talks about the blissful feeling of witnessing the beauty of a full field of daffodils. The essence of plentiful nature and the feeling of bliss has been conveyed through the summer season in this case. Although the symbolism of summer is different for different writers, summer in this case acts as a catalyst in conveying the emotions of bliss and natural beauty. McEwan’s 2001 novel Atonement begins in a country house one hot summer day, leading up to events that would change the course of many characters featured in the book. The quote- “I love England in a heatwave. It’s a different country. All the rules change”, reflects the socioeconomic structure and the definition of freedom at the time. The book features an upper-class family in England and brings out a different meaning of summer based on one’s class. It is set in times when the rules were so much more evident, and the existential effect of their loosening
so much greater. A contemporary summer series, The Summer I turned Pretty by Jenny Han, is the story featuring Belly who measures her life in the summers. Everything good, everything magical, happens between June and August. It is a coming of age story of first love, first heartbreak and the journey to one unexpected, perfect summer. It is a contemporary summer novel, following in the footsteps of many classics where the plot revolves around a wonderful summer and first love. Adlestrop by Edward Thomas is another literary gem praising the English summer. The setting for this poem is the railway station located in the English countryside Adlestrop in Gloucestershire. The time is set in ‘late June’ and the poet is on his way to visit a friend. On his way, he notes the summery sounds and sights while the train stopped at the station. The poem captures a moment of English summer tranquillity in a few vivid, evocative images and sounds. Seasons have always played a significant role in setting the mood for the books- from nostalgia during the Autumn symbolized by fallen, crushed leaves and empty tree branches to biting cold and Grey skies of the winter symbolizing loneliness and despair. However, nothing compares to the possibilities the summer offers a writer’s imagination. From conjuring up a reminiscence of youth, budding romance in long hot days lost loves and memories carried on by the breeze to beautiful descriptions of blossoming flowers, colourful gardens fluttering in the summer breeze, clear night skies with twinkling stars, the summer season makes for a literary treasure and a writer favourite. Words by: Shivika Singh Design by: Holly Chapman
