"And what is so rare as a day in June?"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

My grandmother loved that line. She'd recite the first few couple of lines on June 1. I reminder hearing her say it as we were walking from her apartment to a nearby shopping center one day. It had to be 1963 or 1964 or back there somewhere. She never learned how to drive. I don't think she carried more than $5 on her at any time. She was my favorite relative. I can't help but think of her every June 1.

Pay no attention to my tears.

I'm sure I've posted this before, but I can't find it now. Yeah, I could look it up in the archives.

The Vision of Sir Launfal
by: James Russell Lowell (Author)
from: The Vision of Sir Launfal 1848

{snip}

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays:
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, grasping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there 's never a leaf or a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest, –
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?

{snip}

[Marthe48]

1. I said the first line to myself today

It is one of those perfect early summer days here and brought to mind many happy moments I've been glad to live through

Glad you have memories of your grandmother. When we were little kids, if we happen to run naked past my Gram, after a bath or if we got away from my Mom while we were dressing for bed, she'd exclaim, "Oh, September Morn!" lol

[appalachiablue]

2. Beat me to it, I was just about to post.

Perfect tribute to one of the most beautiful months of the year. Lowell's poem was a favorite of my mother, a June baby who was intelligent, lovely and quite special in many ways. An angel much loved and missed. ~ Today is truly heavenly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Russell_Lowell

[JenniferJuniper]

3. My mother died suddenly a few months ago,

and this morning when I went out on the deck to water the flowers, I could almost hear her say "Such a rare day in June". I don't know if she knew the poem, but she said it every year.