Christian Brown

Summer Night

By Gottfried Keller (1819–1890)

THE GRAIN is waving far around,
And like a sea it stretches out;
And yet upon the silent ground
No horrid sea-brood lies about.
But here of wreaths the flowers dream,	5
As they drink in the star-shine blest.
Oh, golden sea, thy peaceful beam
My longing soul absorbs with zest!
There is a custom fair and old
In my own home in valleys green:	10
When bright the summer starlight’s gold,
When through the bushes fireflies sheen—
Ah, then a whisp’ring, waving gay,
Draws near the ripened field by night,
And through the golden crops there sway	15
The sickles, gleaming silver-bright.
For, flocking to the field in throngs,
The young and sturdy lads draw near.
The crop they’re seeking that belongs
To widow or to orphan drear	20
Who kindly help can never know
Of father, brother, servant boy.—
For her the youths her harvest mow;
Their work is graced by purest joy.
Already all the sheaves are bound	25
And swiftly in a ring they’re laid.
How blithe the fleeting hours were found:
At night-time cool the boys have played!
Now there are songs and revels glad
Among the sheaves, till breath of day	30
Each brown and never weary lad
To his own labour calls away. https://www.bartleby.com/177/99.html Gottfried Keller was a Swiss poet and and short-story writer. Gottfried was born on July 19, 1819 into poverty. He found a way to go to Munich to study about painting. 2 years went by and yet Keller wasn't able to succeed in painting. Known for his poems and stories of love and beauty. With short stories by Keller of his frustration on failing to be an artist. https://biography.yourdictionary.com/gottfried-keller Talks about the passion to grow and harvest grain, with the hard labor it takes to use a sickle and cut down the grain to be used and consumed. This all takes place in the afternoon when the grain field gives off a golden flare. The speaker is supportive of the hard work and labor of grain harvesting, and expects the young men to help. During the poem, the speaker is taken away by the beauty of the field in the setting sun. He or she refers to the field of yeast as a golden sea to create an image in our head. "Oh, golden sea, thy peaceful beam." The crops are also interpreted as widows or orphans when cutting with a sickle, becoming alone forever. "To widow or to orphan drear." The author rapidity mentions the word sheaves, another word for grain. The poem has a rhyme scheme of ABAB. For example in the first part of the poem, around, ground, and out, about. The author divides the stanzas to give a background of the beauty of the grain before telling us who and what happens when harvested. The tone of the poem is very light-hearted. We start off knowing how the author and speaker feel about the large field of grain they work in every day. The speaker shows how important the grain is to him by making sure younger men help him sickle the grain to be later tied and stored perhaps. Finally, the speaker gives a tone of relief as the harvesting has been done for the day and now he or she can rest. Beauty can be found everywhere, you just have to look at it in different perspectives at times.