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Lyric Poem · Nature

The Summer Sun Shone Round Me

by Robert Louis Stevenson

THE summer sun shone round me,

The folded valley lay

In a stream of sun and odour,

That sultry summer day.

The tall trees stood in the sunlight

As still as still could be,

But the deep grass sighed and rustled

And bowed and beckoned me.

The deep grass moved and whispered

And bowed and brushed my face.

It whispered in the sunshine:

"The winter comes apace."

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Quick facts

Poem
The Summer Sun Shone Round Me
Poet
Robert Louis Stevenson
Length
12 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Nature, Summer, Winter

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
12 lines · 3 quatrains
Line length
Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record
Robert Louis Stevenson1850–1894
Source record
PoetryDBThe Summer Sun Shone Round Me by robert-louis-stevenson, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 8f721aadaf2b3be7
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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