These are the days when Birds come back—

These are the days when Birds come back—

A very few—a Bird or two—

To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies resume

The old—old sophistries of June—

A blue and gold mistake.

Oh fraud that cannot cheat the Bee—

Almost thy plausibility

Induces my belief.

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear—

And softly thro' the altered air

Hurries a timid leaf.

Oh sacrament of summer days,

Oh Last Communion in the Haze—

Permit a child to join.

Thy sacred emblems to partake—

Thy consecrated bread to take

And thine immortal wine!

                                                                       - F122 (1859)  J130

I love the beginning of this poem. It moves at a stately pace, introducing the “days” before the “Birds” – a construction Dickinson follows in the second stanza as well, but with skies rather than Birds. The slow solemnity of the pacing is in keeping with the tone and meaning. The poet is somber and sacramental as Indian Summer reminds her that fall and winter are on their way.

            The “B” alliteration in the first stanza adds additional weightiness as do the caesuras – the pauses – in the second line coupled with the long-sound rhymes of “few” and “two.” The birds are on their annual migration to warmer climates, but “A very few” return. They look “backward” to the fullness of summer before moving on again.

            The second stanza continues the slow pace by using long vowels: “resume,” a  “old” (twice), “June,” “blue,” “gold,” and the “a” in “Mistake.” The “oooh” sound of “June,” “resume,” and “blue,” linger when spoken and the effect is akin to the languor of a hot and lazy day. But it would be a mistake to think the blue skies and golden sun indicate summer’s actual return. They are “sophistries” – no substance, but just the appearance of summer.

            In the next stanza the sophistries become a “fraud,” one that the poet – but not the Bee – is tempted by. But the flowers and grass have gone to seed and the trees are beginning to lose their leaves, and this reminds her that summer is indeed over. The anthropomorphism of the leaves timidly hurrying is a nice image. I picture them twirling in the breeze and then skittling along the path.

            The long vowel sounds, including the rhymes, continue throughout. The third stanza has long “e” sounds, the fourth, long “a”s and another long “e,” while the last two stanzas have slow luscious long “a”s. The poem ends in an almost worshipful note as Dickinson uses the words and imagery of solemn church ritual: “sacrament,” “Last Communion,” Sacred emblems,” and “consecrated bread.” When I read this last stanza (and the whole poem is a wonderful one to read aloud), I hear an emphasis on the word “Thy” as if the poet is contrasting the awe of partaking in a September day with that of taking communion in church – and clearly preferring the summer day.

            We’ve seen at least two of her “sacred emblems” before: the Bee (sometimes standing in for God), and the Birds (conventionally a symbol of the spirit and the Holy Spirit). Added to this are now the seeds, bearer of new life in Spring, and the falling leaf—a very gentle symbol, I think, of death.