Poetry · Chapter
To June explained
The speaker addresses June, personified as a truant presence that has returned despite wretched weather.
What happens
The speaker addresses June, personified as a truant presence that has returned despite wretched weather. The speaker imagines June skulking on hilltops, with laughter and bashfulness peeking through the clouds and vapors. Though tempted to chide, the speaker instead commands June to return to its books—the hills, vales, and brooks—without complaint.
Themes in this chapter
Nature as Divine Revelation
The hills, vales, and brooks are presented as books to be studied, suggesting nature as a source of wisdom and revelation.
Childhood and Innocence
June is depicted as a truant child, bashful and playful, evoking the innocence and freedom of childhood.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who addresses June as a truant and commands it to return to its studies.
- Young Spring
June is personified as a youthful, bashful presence associated with springtime and the landscape.
Key passages
“Ah, truant, thou art here again, I see!”
Ah, you runaway, you've come back again, I see!
The speaker greets June as a returning truant, blending affection with mild reproach.
“fall to thy books— Fall to immediately without complaint— There they are lying, hills and vales and brooks.”
Get back to your studies—right away, without arguing—there they are, the hills, valleys, and streams.
The speaker commands June to return to the natural world, which is metaphorically described as books to be learned from.