Summer
Pitiless heat from heaven poursBy day, but nights are cool;Continual bathing gently lowersThe water in the pool;The evening brings a charming peace:For summer-time is hereWhen love that never knows surcease,Is less imperious, dear.
Yet love can never fall asleep;For he is waked to-dayBy songs that all their sweetness keepAnd lutes that softly play,By fans with sandal-water wetThat bring us drowsy rest,By strings of pearls that gently fretFull many a lovely breast.
The sunbeams like the fires are hotThat on the altar wake;The enmity is quite forgotOf peacock and of snake;The peacock spares his ancient foe,For pluck and hunger fail;He hides his burning head belowThe shadow of his tail.
Beneath the garland of the raysThat leave no corner cool,The water vanishes in hazeAnd leaves a muddy pool;The cobra does not hunt for foodNor heed the frog at allWho finds beneath the serpent's hoodA sheltering parasol.
Dear maiden of the graceful song,To you may summer's powerBring moonbeams clear and garlands longAnd breath of trumpet-flower,Bring lakes that countless lilies dot,Refreshing water-sprays,Sweet friends at evening, and a spotCool after burning days.
Words in this poem
- surcease v. t.
- To cause to cease; to end.
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- parasol n.
- A kind of small umbrella used by women as a protection from the sun. [F., fr. Sp. or Pg. parasol, or It. parasole; It. parare to ward off, Sp. & Pg. parar (L. parare to prepare) + It. sole sun, Sp. & Pg. sol (L. sol). See Parry, S]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Summer is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shakuntala and Other Works, Project Gutenberg ebook #16659, the Arthur W. Ryder translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kalidasa, Summer, in Shakuntala and Other Works (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16659, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kalidasa-shakuntala/summer.html, id L15655.
Form and metre
Summer is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 45% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABCBC pours · coolA · lowers · poolA · peaceB · hereC · surceaseB · dearC
- 2 ABABCDCD asleepA · dayB · keepA · playB · wetC · restD · fretC · breastD
- 3 ABABCDCD hotA · wakeB · forgotA · snakeB · foeC · failD · belowC · tailD
- 4 ABAB---- raysA · coolB · hazeA · poolB · food · all · hood · parasol
- 5 ABABCDCD songA · powerB · longA · flowerB · dotC · spraysD · spotC · daysD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Pitiless heat from heaven pours | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| By day, but nights are cool; | 6 | ······ |
| Continual bathing gently lowers | 10 | ˘/˘˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| The water in the pool; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The evening brings a charming peace: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For summer-time is here | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When love that never knows surcease, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Is less imperious, dear. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Yet love can never fall asleep; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For he is waked to-day | 6 | ······ |
| By songs that all their sweetness keep | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And lutes that softly play, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By fans with sandal-water wet | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That bring us drowsy rest, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By strings of pearls that gently fret | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Full many a lovely breast. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| The sunbeams like the fires are hot | 9 | ·/···/˘·· |
| That on the altar wake; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The enmity is quite forgot | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Of peacock and of snake; | 6 | ·/···· |
| The peacock spares his ancient foe, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| For pluck and hunger fail; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He hides his burning head below | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The shadow of his tail. | 6 | ·/···· |
| Beneath the garland of the rays | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That leave no corner cool, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The water vanishes in haze | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| And leaves a muddy pool; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The cobra does not hunt for food | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor heed the frog at all | 6 | ······ |
| Who finds beneath the serpent's hood | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A sheltering parasol. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Dear maiden of the graceful song, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To you may summer's power | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Bring moonbeams clear and garlands long | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And breath of trumpet-flower, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Bring lakes that countless lilies dot, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Refreshing water-sprays, | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| Sweet friends at evening, and a spot | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Cool after burning days. | 6 | ···/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.