Happy Summer Solstice! :)

Dear Family, Friends, & Colleagues:

Next Monday, June 20^th, is the Summer Solstice – the longest day and shortest night of the year. This June, it also features the Full Honey Moon, so called because this particular Full Moon is the southernmost Full Moon of the year and can take on a honey-gold appearance because of the summer haze that hugs the horizon on warm nights. The Summer Solstice is a traditional astronomical holiday that celebrates the long days and short nights of summertime with bonfires, dancing, feasting, and singing under the stars. In areas north of 50 degrees latitude, the night sky never becomes completely dark at the Summer Solstice, resulting in a faint twilight glow that lingers all through the night.

In European folklore, it was believed that the Summer Solstice was when all the Fair Folk (elves, faeries, dryads, etc.) held midnight revels to celebrate the high point of the year. (This belief is reflected in Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.) So in this edition of Quotemail, we have some poems about things that one might expect to see on the night of the Summer Solstice – Fair Folk, fireflies, the Full Moon, and all the starry host!

“Escape at Bedtime”

By Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

The lights from the parlor and kitchen shone out

Through the blinds and the windows and bars;

And high overhead and all moving about,

There were thousands of millions of stars.

There ne’er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,

Nor of people in church or the Park,

As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,

And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,

And the star of the sailor, and Mars,

These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall

Would be half full of water and stars.

They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,

And they soon had me packed into bed;

But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,

And the stars going round in my head.

“The Moon”

By Robert Louis Stevenson

The Moon has a face like the clock in the hall;

She shines on thieves on the garden wall,

On streets and fields and harbor quays,

And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,

The howling dog by the door of the house,

The bat that lies in bed at noon,

All love to be out by the light of the Moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day

Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;

And flowers and children close their eyes

Till up in the morning the Sun shall arise.

“The Firefly”

By Evaleen Stein (1863-1923)

Flash and flicker and fly away,
Trailing light as you flutter far,
Are you a lamp for the faeries, say?
Or a flake of fire from a falling star?

“Faery Rings”

By Evaleen Stein

[This poem explains how people before the Space Age explained the origin of “crop circles.” Truly, there’s nothing new under the sun! – RHC] :)

Softly in the gloaming
Flitting through the vale,
Faery folk are roaming
Over hill and dale.

Pixies in the hollow,
Elves upon the height,
Let us follow, follow
Through the paling light.

Follow, all unbidden,
To the grassy glade
Wrapped around and hidden
In the forest shade.

Hark the elfin tinkle
Of their little lutes!
Mark the golden twinkle
Of their faery flutes!

See them dancing, dancing,
While the silver moon
Tips their swiftly glancing
Little silver shoon!

Tripping, tripping lightly,
Where their footprints fall,
Look! the grass is brightly
Growing green and tall!

Springing close, unbroken,
In a faery ring,
For tomorrow’s token
Of their frolicking!

As has become traditional at the Summer Solstice, I’d like to dedicate this fortnight’s Quotemail to all my friends at the Center for Children’s Books at the University of Illinois. Please visit them @ http://ccb.lis.illinois.edu/ to learn more about their programs and publications highlighting the best new literature for children and young adults.

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone! :)

Rob

P.S. My Flag Day Quotemail wasn’t sent out on schedule due to technical difficulties with Microsoft Outlook. However, you can read it in its entirety on my blog @ http://rhcfortnightlyquotemail.blogspot.com.