Sumer Is Icumen In
Summer Is A-comin’ In
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Middle English: Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu! Groweth sed and bloweth med And springth the wode nu, Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteth after lomb,
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes thu cuccu; |
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Modern English: Summer is a-comin’ in, Loudly sing, cuckoo! Grows seed, Blooms mead [meadow], And springs the wood a-new [the woods are springing into leaf now]! Sing, cuckoo!
The ewe is bleating after her lamb,
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
Sing, cuckoo, now; sing, cuckoo; |
Sumer is icumen in is mid-13th century medieval English round. The round--or rota--is still traditionally sung from the tower of Magdalen College, Oxford every May Day. The title Sumer is icumen in basically means “summer has just come in” or “summer has arrived.”
May Day, in merry old England, was considered the beginning of summer. It coincided with the Celtic reckonning of Beltane marking the beginning of the summer season.
This little song also represents one of the earliest examples of English poetry. Indeed, it predates Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales by about a hundred years. I think I first read it way back in college in 1980. The instructor actually had us sing it as a round. At the end of the round, I still remember him remarking: “Didn’t they know how to have fun in the Middle Ages?”
Sources:
Dr. Oliver Tearle A Short Analysis of ‘Sumer Is Icumen In’ Copyright 2020
Classic FM radio 100-102 FM Listen to one of the oldest songs ever written, ‘Sumer is icumen in’ January 18, 2019
Maying/Beltane Songs
Practical Celebration Recipies and Preps
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