Tuesday Poem: “Sumer is Icumen In”
- Sumer is Icumen in,
- Loudly sing, cuckoo!
- Grows the seed and blows the mead,
- And springs the wood anew;
- Sing, cuckoo!
- Ewe bleats harshly after lamb,
- Cows after calves make moo;
- Bullock stamps and deer champs,
- Now shrilly sing, cuckoo!
- Cuckoo, cuckoo
- Wild bird are you;
- Be never still, cuckoo!
- .
- (Traditional)
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About the Poem:
“Sumer is Icumen in” (or: ‘Summer is a-coming in’) is a traditional English round. It is thought to date from around 1260 AD and although written down the author is anonymous. There are several versions of the song, and given its era the original is written in Middle English. The version I use here is the one used in the 1973 film, The Wicker Man.
I have chosen to feature “Sumer is Icumen in” today because down here in the southern hemisphere, summer is indeed a-comin’ in. But also because one thing I like to do in the Tuesday Poem slot, from time to time, is celebrate the origins and different traditions of poetry—all part of reaffirming that as poets we are part of a continuum, and I believe it’s important to both appreciate and acknowledge that.
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Oh, I’m so jealous of summer coming! Rounds are wonderful fun, and this one is new to me, so thanks, Helen. I loved the description of cows ‘making moo’.
And today was the most brilliant day here, too, Elizabeth: blazingly hot, not a cloud in the sky, only the slightest stirring of wind–and best of all, no earthquakes!
Dear Helen, thank you for posting this gorgeous poem, it makes me almost wistful–I wish I could have heard every day English spoken like that. Especially nice to recite in the Norther Hemisphere today when winter indeed ‘is Icumen in’
Melissa, I know what you mean—I always loved the rhythm of Chaucer’s Middle English when reading The Canterbury Tales as well. Having lived in the Northern Hemisphere I can now ‘get’ the opposing seasons, but when I was a child I just could not conceive of how Christmas could be anything but high summer! But as Elizabeth said, rounds are wonderful fun and this one is no exception.
There’s a particularly good version of this on Richard Thompson’s 1000 Years of Popular Music. I find myself playing it constantly around this time of year.
It perfectly suits the season, doesn’t it, Grant?