Sensuous Season Poems

In the summer season, as the renowned poet Mary Oliver eloquently describes, there are countless satisfactions to be found. Fishermen reel in their catch, the food is delectable and genuine, and the sail catches just the right amount of wind. Even the children, particularly those in the countryside, play exuberantly, often resisting the call to rest, even as the fireflies blink up to their bedroom windows. Moreover, the heat transforms the neighborhood into a genuine community, with people spilling out onto lawns and porches, exhausted yet content, less ambitious than in any other season, and filled with the beautiful, ethereal essence of dreams.

"A Dream of Summer" is a captivating collection of thirty-seven evocative poems that capture the essence and joy of summertime. Illustrated throughout with charming pen-and-ink drawings, this volume focuses on the sensuality of the summer season and the diverse experiences it offers. It is a love letter to the sultry heat, the crashing thunderstorms, the endless days, and the short, mild nights.

Gathered within this volume are works by an illustrious array of poets, both from the past and the present. Among them are the renowned William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, John Keats, and Alfred Lord Tennyson, as well as more contemporary artists like Louise Glück, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marge Piercy, and Charles Simic.

Renowned poet Mary Oliver contributes a thoughtful introduction, musing on this most enchanted and favored of seasons. Other contributors include Sharan Strange, Galway Kinnell, May Sarton, Robert Frost, Louise Bogan, Wallace Stevens, Denise Levertov, Robert Hayden, Derek Walcott, Marge Piercy, and many more.

Accompanying the poems are biographical notes by editor Robert Atwan, offering brief insights into the lives and literary achievements of each of the poets included in the volume.

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