--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Summer Between Terms\" The day's so calm…" description: "\"“Summer Between Terms\" The day's so calm and muggy I sweat tears, the summer's cloudcap and the summer's heat... surely good writers write all possible..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/robert-lowell-6901_summer_summer-between-terms-the-day-s-so-calm-a_1516431.jpg" --- # Summer Between Terms" The day's so calm and muggy I sweat… ![“Summer Between Terms" The day's so calm and muggy I sweat tears, the summer's cloudcap and the summer's heat... surely good writers write all possible wrong-- are we so conscience-dark and cataract-blind, we only blame in others what they blame in us? (The sentence writes we, when charity wants…” quote by Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/robert-lowell-6901_summer_summer-between-terms-the-day-s-so-calm-a_1516431.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/robert-lowell-6901_summer_summer-between-terms-the-day-s-so-calm-a_1516431.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/robert-lowell-6901_summer_summer-between-terms-the-day-s-so-calm-a_1516431.jpg) > ““Summer Between Terms" The day's so calm and muggy I sweat tears, the summer's cloudcap and the summer's heat... surely good writers write all possible wrong-- are we so conscience-dark and cataract-blind, we only blame in others what they blame in us? (The sentence writes we, when charity wants I...) It takes such painful mellowing to use error... I have stood too long on a chair or ladder, branch-lightening forking through my thought and veins-- I cannot hang my heavy picture straight. I can't see myself...in the cattery, the tomcats doze till the litters are eatable, then find their kittens and chew off their breakable heads. They told us by harshness to win the stars. Planes, trains, lorries simmer through the garden, the reviewer sent by God to humble me ransacking my bags of dust for silver spoons-- he and I go on typing to go on living. There are ways to live on words in England-- reading for trainfare, my host ruined on wine, my ear gone bad from clinging to the ropes. I'd take a lower place, eat my toad hourly; even big frauds wince at fraudulence, and squirm from small incisions in the self-- they live on timetable with no time to tell. I'm sorry, I run with the hares now, not the hounds. I waste hours writing in and writing out a line, as if listening to conscience were telling the truth”” [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A tangled meditation on creative struggle, perception, and the absurdities of life, using vivid, disjointed imagery to explore inner conflict and societal expectations. **In simple terms:** A poet reflects on difficulty, confusion, and absurdity in life and art. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and keep writing despite chaos. Themes creativity conflict absurdity perception societal pressure Mood melancholic introspective surreal Type literary reflective philosophical When to use this quote - writing process - artistic block - daily routine - self‑reflection Key Concepts existentialism stream of consciousness self‑critique Questions to Reflect On - How does chaos fuel your creativity? - What personal absurdities do you notice? A Different Perspective The fragmented style may obscure clarity for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Planes Trains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planes-trains/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) [Telling the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-the-truth/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Tears are the summer showers to the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-austin/tears-are-the-summer-showers-to-the-soul/) [Alfred Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-austin/) > [Tears are summer showers to the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-austin/tears-are-summer-showers-to-the-soul/) [Alfred Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-austin/) > [A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. 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Cow farts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zazie-beetz/agriculture-is-one-of-the-biggest-causes-of-greenhouse-gases-in-the/) [Zazie Beetz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zazie-beetz/) > [For me, the best places to write are on planes, trains and at airports. Not hotel rooms but hotel lobbies. I'm really happy when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesbo/for-me-the-best-places-to-write-are-on-planes-trains-and-at-airports/) [Jo Nesbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesbo/) > [Movies used to be like 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' and 'Home Alone:' That's a regular guy in this movie that you enjoy watching. 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My hoppped up husband drops his home disputes, and hits the streets to cruise for prostitutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/life-begins-to-happen-my-hoppped-up-husband-drops-his-home-disputes/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“The slick bare tar, the same suburban station.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/the-slick-bare-tar-the-same-suburban-station/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“Things last, but sometimes for days here only children seem fit to handle children, and there is no utility or inspiration in the wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/things-last-but-sometimes-for-days-here-only-children-seem-fit-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“This is the departure strip, the dream-road. Whoever built it left numbers, words and arrows. He had to leave in a hurry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/this-is-the-departure-strip-the-dream-road-whoever-built-it-left/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) [Explore all 96 Robert Lowell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) ## More Summer quotes > [“When the water covers the earth the sun will vanish the darkess and the cold will come.When the last dragon and the last Elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvana-de-mari/when-the-water-covers-the-earth-the-sun-will-vanish-the-darkess-and/) [Silvana de Mari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvana-de-mari/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [Outside Buckingham Palace, the Royal Standard flies only when the reigning monarch is in residence. Sadly, there's no similar flag outside The Woods Jupiter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-rushin/outside-buckingham-palace-the-royal-standard-flies-only-when-the/) [Steve Rushin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-rushin/) > [ME AND SUMMER GUNNA BE MOVING IN TOGETHER HELL YA ITS GUNNA BE BOSS!!!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hawes/me-and-summer-gunna-be-moving-in-together-hell-ya-its-gunna-be-boss/) [Jon Hawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hawes/) > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > ["Summer Sisters" is probably my least autobiographical book. The whole idea started with rowing down the pond. And I heard an explosion. 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And worry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiera-cass/the-summer-was-ending-and-soon-we-d-be-faced-with-cold-and-worry/) [Kiera Cass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiera-cass/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [All labours draw hame at even, And can to others say, "Thanks to the gracious God of heaven, Whilk sent this summer day."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hume/all-labours-draw-hame-at-even-and-can-to-others-say-thanks-to-the/) Alexander Hume > [How softly summer shuts, without the creaking of a door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/how-softly-summer-shuts-without-the-creaking-of-a-door/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. 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But it's exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-buffett/i-still-consider-it-a-summer-job-though-so-i-try-to-maintain-that/) [Jimmy Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-buffett/) [Browse all 4,963 Summer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Summer Between Terms\" The day's so calm and muggy I sweat tears, the summer's cloudcap and the summer's heat... surely good writers write all possible wrong-- are we so conscience-dark and cataract-blind, we only blame in others what they blame in us? (The sentence writes we, when charity wants I...) It takes such painful mellowing to use error... I have stood too long on a chair or ladder, branch-lightening forking through my thought and veins-- I cannot hang my heavy picture straight. I can't see myself...in the cattery, the tomcats doze till the litters are eatable, then find their kittens and chew off their breakable heads. They told us by harshness to win the stars. Planes, trains, lorries simmer through the garden, the reviewer sent by God to humble me ransacking my bags of dust for silver spoons-- he and I go on typing to go on living. There are ways to live on words in England-- reading for trainfare, my host ruined on wine, my ear gone bad from clinging to the ropes. I'd take a lower place, eat my toad hourly; even big frauds wince at fraudulence, and squirm from small incisions in the self-- they live on timetable with no time to tell. I'm sorry, I run with the hares now, not the hounds. 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