Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1904 / Ohio / United States)

One of my favorite poems as a child. Truly gifted, but died too young

A plu-perfect nature poem which reads like it sprung naturally from Dunbar's pure self.

A plu-perfect nature poem, which reads like it sprung from Dunbar's pure self, like a natural change of season.

Kevin Straw at it again.

wow awesome
very nice

Everyone has an opinion, I see. We are told how to interpret a poem and how not to interpret one! Let me ask doubting Thomases like young MacKenzie - how does a reader come to an understanding of a poem unless he pays attention to what words mean? For that matter, the relevant question should be HOW DOES A POEM MEAN? Study rime and meter and rhythm in earnest and you might come to comprehend what the poem means, right? Yes, one must infer meaning from the structure of the poem! You cannot ask personal questions of any writer, now can you? How about Shakespeare's plays?

Incidentally, whatever happened to my earlier comments, as well as those of Mr. Straw? The author some of you might consult is John Ciardi, who translated Dante's DIVINE COMEDY from its original Italian to English and whose book entitled HOW DOES A POEM MEAN has withstood the ravages of time. A word to the wise, eh?

The roses would only be susceptible to the rain at night when the buds and leaves would not have a chance to dry, thus providing and opening for blight and fungus. But who cares, the real tragedy here is that Dunbar was so young at his passing.

beauty lies in the simplicity of words. the poem takes you to a garden of tender yet to bloom roses, 'peeping from behind their green hoods'.when it rains in torrents, that extracts the smell from all the vegetation.may be woody and pinety, can it be the piquant smell of pine trees? i'd like to think there are pine trees around.then if the sun shines, naturally it'll sparkle since there won't be any clouds.

Summer in the South by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a beautifully crafted poem. ‘The rosebuds peep from their hoods of green, Timid, and hesitating’ is a wonderful line. Dunbar is correct, roses are susceptible to rain and ‘rain comes down in a torrent sweep’ would accurately describe, the damage spring rain does to the first timid buds and blossom back home, when it rains torrents.
The vernacular word ‘pinety’ cleverly plays upon pint sized in my mind and thus fits ‘The garden thrives, but the tender shoots Are yellow-green and tiny' beautifully. Dunbar exhibits exquisite descriptive choice, in spring a garden does thrive with tender shoots, when an exceptional gardener has a magic touch. Some plants require more sheltered sections of a garden and the choice of ‘but’ reminds of seasonal damage the young shoots suffer in what we termed a bad spring when weather rained havoc. This is really an excellent poem and the poet has carefully chosen exactly the words he wanted to describe his observations of a southern summer. I have often contemplated how much some of the city bound miss, when reading well written nature poems, due to never having been blessed with immersion into the diversity of nature. This poem is a joy of treasured of memories, with deep insight, expressed with accurate simplicity.

Hilarious natural scene with hill, meadow, stream, Sun and wood painted with pen as poem lingers on in the mind even after reading it! Wonderful way to depict Summer in poem nice!