[Art] Maiden of Summer 2026

 

A Summer Day

I:
The dawn laughs out on orient hills
And dances with the diamond rills;
The ambrosial wind but faintly stirs
The silken, beaded gossamers;
In the wide valleys, lone and fair,
Lyrics are piped from limpid air,
And, far above, the pine trees free
Voice ancient lore of sky and sea.
Come, let us fill our hearts straightway
With hope and courage of the day.

II:
Noon, hiving sweets of sun and flower,
Has fallen on dreams in wayside bower,
Where bees hold honeyed fellowship
With the ripe blossom of her lip;
All silent are her poppied vales
And all her long Arcadian dales,
Where idleness is gathered up
A magic draught in summer’s cup.
Come, let us give ourselves to dreams
By lisping margins of her streams.

III:
Adown the golden sunset way
The evening comes in wimple gray;
By burnished shore and silver lake
Cool winds of ministration wake;
O’er occidental meadows far
There shines the light of moon and star,
And sweet, low-tinkling music rings
About the lips of haunted springs.
In quietude of earth and air
‘Tis meet we yield our souls to prayer.
~by Lucy Maude Montgomery

Trying to find a poem about Summer that fit my expectations of this drawing was pretty hard. I think Stanza II of this fits best, but I liked the symmetry of Dawn to Dusk and so included the whole thing. 

[Art] Maiden of Spring 2026

 

While the trees aren't leafed out like in the drawing, the sun is stronger, the grass is growing and the temperatures are warm enough that I don't need multiple layers. Spring is a magical word here in New England. It means you survived Winter and now can be warm again. I really like this picture because it shows a mature Spring at the height of it's power, just before Summer moves in.  

[Art] Maiden of Christmas Solstice 2025

 

Even in winter, the sun is still shining...

[Art] Maiden of Fall

 

It is that time of the year again. The leaves are changing, sunset is getting earlier, the apples are beginning to drop from the trees and pumpkins are growing like crazy. Yep, it's Fall!

[Art] The Summer Maiden

 

This completes the Maidens of the Year cycle. Maiden of Spring, now The Summer Maiden, then the Lady of the Fall and finally The Maiden of Christmas Solstice.

I like that the sunlight is that syrupy gold that just whispers of drowsy sleepiness as the insects drone in the background. It is so quiet you can hear the butterflies as they flap their wings. August is always the height of summer here. Hot, humid, sunny. Makes you want to sit on a porch swing and just look out over the landscape while your brain slumbers.