Today's astronomical event we know as the summer solstice introduced the season on the East Coast of the US shortly after 5AM this morning. On this day the sun reaches its highest point in the sky in the northern hemisphere. It's also the longest day and shortest night of the year.
 |
| Summer solstice sunrise at Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England |
Although the sun begins its daily descent from that highest point tomorrow, insolation from our star will continue to raise atmospheric temperatures until late July. As this day marks the end of the season of renewal and the beginning of the season of growth and flower, I am reminded of this quote by the renowned American novelist, essayist, and critic, D. H. Lawrence:
Here is a tone poem, A Song of Summer, written some 700 years later by Frederick Delius and transcribed and arranged by Eric Fenby:
And then there is summer as the season of youth, the school break, the summer job, of free time and good friends, and for many what the renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell called "friendship set to music."
May your summer living be easy and wonder-filled.
Sources
Photos and Illustrations:
photo, nasa.gov
Text:
thoughtcatalog.com
The greatest need of man is the renewal forever of the complete rhythm of life and death, the rhythm of the sun's year, the body's year
There's plenty of interesting and appropriate music for the day including this 13th century English round:
Middle English
Sumer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu;
Ne swik þu nauer nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
Modern English
Summer has arrived,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow
blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing,
cuckoo;
Don't ever you stop now,
Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!
Here is a tone poem, A Song of Summer, written some 700 years later by Frederick Delius and transcribed and arranged by Eric Fenby:
And then there is summer as the season of youth, the school break, the summer job, of free time and good friends, and for many what the renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell called "friendship set to music."
May your summer living be easy and wonder-filled.
Sources
Photos and Illustrations:
photo, nasa.gov
Text:
thoughtcatalog.com
No comments:
Post a Comment