“St. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain, for forty days it will remain; St. Swithin's day, if thou be fair, for forty days 'twill rain no more.”
Traditional English Proverb · July 15 folk saying, documented widely before 1800
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Then followed that beautiful season called summer, filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light.
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About this quote
Meaning
Longfellow describes summer here not simply as a season of warmth but as a time when the very air seems to carry something enchanted. The word "dreamy" suggests a softening of ordinary reality, while "magical" points toward something that lifts daily life above the usual. Together, they create an image of summer as a kind of spell cast over the natural world, one that asks to be experienced slowly and with full attention.
Context
These lines come from Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, a long narrative poem published in 1847. The poem tells the story of a young Acadian woman separated from her betrothed during the historical expulsion of the Acadian people from their homes in what is now Canada. Longfellow uses rich descriptions of landscape and season throughout the poem to create atmosphere and to deepen the emotional experience of the story. The depiction of summer in these lines serves as a moment of beauty that exists alongside the human sorrow at the poem's center.
About the author
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most widely read American poets of the nineteenth century. Born in Maine in 1807, he spent much of his career as a professor and writer, producing work that reached a very broad popular audience both in the United States and abroad. Evangeline was among his most celebrated works and helped establish his reputation as a poet capable of handling both epic narrative and lyrical description with skill.
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