The Summer Solstice

By Edith Thomas (1854–1925)

June 21 is the day of year when the sun is furthest from the equator.

IN the month of June, when the world is green,

When the dew beads thick on the clover spray,

And the noons are rife with the scent of hay,

And the brook hides under a willow screen;

When the rose is queen, in Love’s demesne,

Then the time is too sweet and too light to stay;

Whatever the sun and the dial say,

This is the shortest day!