Now that summer is officially here, check out this group of poems for summer – slow reading for those long, hot afternoons.
“I See the Boys of Summer” by Dylan Thomas
This poem secured Thomas’ his first publishing contract while he was still a teenager. Opaque, yet evocative.
“Ode to Spring” by Frederick Seidel
So it’s a spring poem, but you get the point. The last line, of course, is the clincher.
“Sonnet 18″ by William Shakespeare
Fodder for high school English classes and cocktail party recitations, this sonnet is immortal.
“Summer Song” by William Carlos Williams
Look at the good doctor dapper in his sky blue necktie. The classic pithy brilliance of Williams.
“Personal Poem” by Frank O’Hara
Robert Lowell said Hart Crane captured more of New York than any other poet, but clearly O’Hara is a contender. Put on your seersucker jacket and hit the streets.
“The Tropics of New York” by Claude McKay
Another classic New York piece, this time by a Jamaican poet who was a precursor to the Harlem Renaissance.
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