These beautiful poems are guaranteed to not only get you into the spirit of the solstice, but also remind you (as if you didn’t already know) that there’s no season quite like summer.

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Henry David Thoreau on July 12, here’s a summertime poem by Professor Emeritus of Biology Robert Chute, a noted Maine poet. Chute’s “Heat Wave in Concord” reimagines ...