During Montgomery’s 20s and 30s, when most of her poetry was published, the subject matter and style of her poetry was very similar to what was reflected in her short stories and novels. Themes such as family life, human relationships, the natural world and different stages of existence, were some of the areas of discussion that interested her most.
In “The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery”, it is written, “The freshness of much of Montgomery’s verse is perhaps best explained by the remarkable correlation between the markets she wrote for and her own loves and enthusiasms. The magazines wanted poems about fishing boats and storms at sea. She was born and bred within walking distance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and always loved all the moods of the sea and shore. The magazines wanted poems about spring and meadows and woods. She loved the outdoors and spent most of her free time among trees, brooks, and fields. Thus she was not obliged to tear at her hair in order to meet the editors’ requirements.”
But Montgomery did not just record her love for nature or use the language of verse only when writing poetry. She often wrote in the same style and of the same subjects in her journals - proving that the author really did love her work and felt its importance in her personal life.
Here is a poem she wrote in honour of the current month.
June!
“Wake up,” the robins warble,
“The summer time” is here,
The month of blushing roses,
The darling of the year.
Wake up, you lazy dreamers!
The summer’s waiting you,
The days are long and golden;
The skies are tender blue.
The earth is full of gladness,
Of light and song and bloom,
Join in the summer brightness,
Nor ever think of gloom.
Make haste, June-days to welcome,
For summer-time will fleet
As swift as flying shadows
Across the ripened wheat.
And, when the autumn breezes
Sight through September’s leaves,
And all the sloping hillsides
Wave rows to tasseled sheaves.
The birds that follow summer
Will seek a southern sky,
The sweetness of her blossoms
Will, all forgotten, die.
And summer to her lover
Will yield her weary charms,
Sink peacefully to slumber,
And die in autumn’s arms.
Come, then, ye lazy dreamers,
Come forth to light and love,
The earth is wreathed with garlands,
The skies are blue above.
The birds their love songs carol
‘Mid golden summer blooms;
The breezes whisper softly
In twilight’s opal glooms;
All glad things big you welcome
While last the summer hours.
Who wishes more than June-time,
With song and light and flowers.
Check back soon for a discussion of Montgomery’s poetry and its ties to religion.
Source: The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery
