The Vision of Sir Launfal

The seasons are symbolic of the natural life cycle. The June day depicted in the Prelude to Part First represents early summer, which is the most beautiful of the seasons to the speaker. This particular day represents all “perfect days” in the season. The implication is that these days are not forced. They appear without effort, as they always have and always will.

There are also many references to the passage of time and examples of life renewing itself in the natural order of things. Prelude to Part First depicts the inevitable cycle of regrowth and restoration, and how this is the natural flow of life to which humans should succumb in order to forget their worries and feel at one with the Earth.

The speaker references the symbolism of other seasons as well. The following line, “[w]armed with the new wine of the year” (Line 78), would seemingly reference autumn, the season of the grape harvest and therefore wine production. The final word in the excerpt is “snow,” clearly a winter element. These references to seasons other than summer may seem incongruous but perhaps imply that it is not only in June, or early summer, that nature and humanity can be in harmony.