On Summer Analysis
George Moses Horton uses literary elements and techniques including juxtaposition, imagery, and personification to develop a complex portrayal of the rural setting in his poem “On Summer,” and convey the double-sided perspectives of the midsummer season.
In his first few stanzas, Horton makes the statement that with summer comes fire, harvest, and thunder. Specifically, as summer approaches, “..fire begins to burn/auburn fields of harvest rise/..And thunders roll along the skies.” This distinct description is vivid imagery that creates a predominantly negative connotation of summer: fire, heat, and thunder. Through his illustrative usage of burning, thunder, and auburn colors, Horton paints summer through a tumultuous lens defined by a clear struggle for tranquility. Fire is visually described as burning across the countryside with fields of reddish-brown decorating the surroundings and thunder roaring across the sky, accompanied by the warm summer air. Additionally, Horton ventures deeper into the cataclysmic view of summer through further imagery and descriptions. In stanzas 6 and 7, he states “And roars terrific from on high/Whose voice the timid creatures dread.” In these two stanzas, Horton hints at the predatory nature of summer nights, where timid creatures hide, dreading the darkness that awaits them. Moreover, through the addition of lines 9-12, the visualization of summer as a predatory time is cemented into the reader’s mind. Horton writes, “The night-hawk ventures from his cell/And starts his note in the evening air,” (line 9) to describe in a literal sense the predators of summer soaring across the sky, ready to devour their next meal. Hawks typically are intimidating creatures. Thus, this imagery of a hawk venturing from his cell and calling out to signal his evening flight creates an imposing impression of summer.
By now, Horton has conveyed the rural setting of Summer as a deeply tense and fearful place. However, Horton balances this cynical point of view of summer through juxtaposition, highlighting a contrasting difference between summer’s delights and frights. In stanzas 17-20, Horton establishes the generous and graceful nature of summer through a recount of a bee’s daily life during this warm season. Terms such as “sweet exertions,” “delight,” and “rising stock supplies” are extremely positive descriptors that are distinct from previously used terms in reference to summer. Through this, Horton conveys summer as a colorful, blossoming season where the warm embrace of change brings about bountiful harvests and joy. This change thus highlights a crucial component of his imagery: juxtaposition. Not only is juxtaposition seen in the way Horton describes the bees, but it’s also seen in stanzas 25-28, where he recounts the life of a mother bird. Horton writes, “The mistress bird assumes her nest/And broods in silence on the tree/Her note to cease, her wings at rest/She patient waits her young to see.” The mistress bird described in lines 25-28 is a direct contrast to the night-hawk dedicated in stanzas 9-12. Masterfully, Horton creates a sense of balance between the night-hawk and mistress bird by recounting their life in a similar, but distinct fashion. The mistress bird’s actions directly oppose that of the hawk’s. As such, by describing contrasting elements of the setting, Horton is able to paint an extremely complex portrait of where the story takes place.
Antecedently, the juxtaposition is evident throughout the poem. From the happy birds, bees, and insects that hum and harvest during summer to the predatory hawks, thunder, and fire that reign over the rural climate, summer is visibly a place of great diversity and complicated surroundings. Nonetheless, Horton continues with personification to create an even greater portrayal of the rural midsummer setting. In lines 40-42, the text states “While plenty smiles on every tree/..Now gaze with pleasure and delight.” In detailing the harvest of summer, personification is used as a visual aid to represent the happy feeling associated with summer’s bounty. The plentiful goods to carry, consume, and utilize are all thanks to the warm summer weather. Hence, Horton skillfully uses the literary skill of personification to identify summer’s abundance and the joy it brings to those who experience it. This joy is elaborated in stanzas 43-44, “See loaded vines with melons teem/’Tis paradise to human sight,” (Horton). This vivid imagery introduces the reader to summer’s botanical creations: orchards and vines teeming with fruits. His establishment of summer’s bounty in stanzas 40-42, and again in 43-44, serves to contrast with the previously stated lines detailing summer’s negativity and fear. Furthermore, such statements also work closely with the previous ones to form a greater, more complex picture of the setting and present readers with a more holistic perspective of summer: delights, frights, and joys included.
Alas, the bountiful harvests of summer cannot be enjoyed with hard labor and work. In lines 29-30, Horton details the hard work of farmers and their animals during summer, “The farmer hastens from the heat/The weary plough-horse droops his head.” The farmer and his horse can be pictured working diligently on the farms in summer, proactively harvesting, planting, and taking care of their crops to take advantage of summer’s sultry weather. Simultaneously, the cattle in lines 31-32 rest in the shade. This juxtaposition of the farmer and his horse with the cattle creates a nuanced image that allows readers to grasp the complexity of summertime and the duties each creature performs during this time. Although the farmer and the horse are hard at work on the farm, the cattle rest. Likewise, while the harvests of summer are plentiful, without hard work and tough labor, such harvests are not possible.
Thereby, by introducing readers to contrasting ideas within touching lines, Horton creatively generates a broad image of the rural setting of summer. Through literary elements and techniques such as juxtaposition, personification, and imagery, the reader is able to discover a wide array of summer’s complex setting and generate a holistic understanding of the pains, bounties, and joys of summertime.