Eruptive lightnings flutter to and fro
Above the heights of immemorial hills;
Thirst-stricken air, dumb-throated, in its woe
Limply down-sagging, its limp body spills
Upon the earth. A panting silence fills
The empty vault of Night with shimmering bars
Of sullen silver, where the lake distils
Its misered bounty.—Hark! No whisper mars
The utter silence of the untranslated stars.
This poem is in the public domain.
About This Poem
“Summer Silence” was published in Volume XCV of The Harvard Advocate on March 7, 1913.
E. E. Cummings was born on in 1894, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His collections of poetry include Tulips and Chimneys
(T. Seltzer, 1923) and 50 Poems (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940). He died in 1962.
"The Florist Wears Knee-Breeches" by Wallace Stevens
"Come Slowly—Eden (211)" by Emily Dickinson
"Garden Under Lightning" by Leonora Speyer
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