Sumer is icumen in is occasionally known as The
Cuckoo Song because of its chorus. This song, celebrating
the joy of spring (MIDDLE ENGLISH often
used “summer” in this sense), is often assumed to
have been written between 1230 and 1240, but the
complexity of the music suggests that a date of
about 1300 might be more likely. It has two stanzas
and a two-line refrain with the following rhyme
scheme: abcbb abcbbb bb.
The poem celebrates the effects of spring and
lists numerous indications of its presence. The first
stanza has the images of seeds, leaves growing on
trees, and blossoming flowers. The second stanza
addresses animal life and celebrates the birth of
lambs and calves.
The poem is the only English lyric found in a
13th-century commonplace book, compiled by
Reading Abbey monks,with numerous contemporary
Latin and French musical pieces. The lyric
contains singing instructions in Latin that explain
the rota or round form. Because of the deceptively
simple lyrics linked with the complex music, written
for four voices accompanied by two additional
voices, it appears this poem may be a learned, religious
adaptation of a popular secular tune.
Twentieth-century poet Ezra Pound wrote a
parody of Sumer is icumen in that he entitled Winter
is icumen in and in which he described the frustrations
associated with winter.
Bibliography
Davies, R. T., ed. Medieval English Lyrics: A Critical
Anthology. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University
Press, 1964.
Moore,A. K. The Secular Lyric in Middle English. Lexington:
University of Kentucky Press, 1951.
Reiss, Edmund. The Art of the Middle English Lyric:
Essays in Criticism. Athens: University of Georgia
Press, 1972.