June by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's a single octave—eight lines—written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ABABAB CC. This poem is part of a larger sequence titled The Poet's Calendar, where each month features its own short poem narrated in the first person.

June introduces herself and highlights all the reasons she believes she's the best month of the year: roses, weddings, long days, lovely nights, and the sounds of summer activities. The entire poem radiates a confident, joyful self-portrait.

Giving June a voice brings the month to life, making it feel more genuine than just a name on a calendar. The repeated phrases "mine" and "I am" create a sense of ownership and pride — June isn't just being talked about; she's sharing her own story.

It means the sound of a scythe slicing through tall grass in a summer meadow is, to June, as enjoyable as music. It's also a clever twist: while the scythe is usually seen as a symbol of death, here it represents life, labor, and the richness of summer.

Longfellow envisions the year as a parent with twelve children, each representing a month. June declares herself the most beautiful of the twelve, asserting her claim as the best month with confidence.

Proud, warm, and celebratory. There's no sadness or doubt in sight. June is essentially boasting, but it does so with such grace that it feels purely joyful instead of arrogant.

It's genuinely joyful on the surface, but the image of the scythe introduces a subtle tension. A scythe is meant for cutting things down. Even amidst summer's beauty, the tool of endings is lurking — it's simply making music at the moment. Longfellow doesn't linger on it, but it's definitely there.

It appeared in 1882 within his last collection, In the Harbor, as part of the Poet's Calendar sequence. Longfellow passed away the same year the collection was released, adding a subtly touching context to the entire sequence — a reflection on the passage of time through the months.