A Handful of Summer Love Quotes

There are volumes upon volumes of cheesy, over-romanticized summer love quotes out there. What I want to focus on here are quotes about summer that could also be interpreted to be about love. After all, love and summer are similar in many ways. They both tend to be hot at the beginning and cool off near the end. They are both things which people look forward to with excitement. Above all, they both provide inspiration for poetic verse. So...let's look at a few quotes about summer that, read in a different context, could just as well be about love.

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."--Russell Baker (source: quotations.about.com)

Personally, the first thing I think of when I read this line is tanning. Maybe it's just because I'm a natural redhead and, as such, tend to BURN rather than tan...but isn't it just a bit strange that people look forward to summer so that they can lay out in the sun and blister? Ouch! That's what I call suffering. Like it? Not me, but it seems as if most of the world is pretty into it! But besides that, summer also brings to mind sweaty nights in bed without air conditioning, tossing and turning in a sticky mess of sheets. And yet we're still crazy about summer!
If you substitute the word "love" for "summer" in this quote, it makes just as much sense. Suffering is such a big part of love, and yet we just can't get enough of it! In fact, love can also lead to many sweaty nights in bed, but we won't delve too deeply into that.

"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer."--Albert Camus (source: quotations.about.com)

If I was given an assignment to describe what I think Camus was talking about here, I think I would say he was talking metaphorically about love. I think the "midst of winter" that he mentions could be just a sort of "down time" in a relationship, maybe a moment of doubt or an instance of infidelity. The invincible summer could be the true love that he feels inside. He describes it as "invincible" because regardless of whether he is feeling doubt or another type of "coldness", the love still remains. That may sound terribly cliche, but it's just my interpretation.

"In summer, the song sings itself."--William Carlos Williams (source: quotegarden.com)

Williams might as well have said "When you're in love, the song sings itself." Both sentences convey the same feeling--when you're feeling warm and happy, things seem to happen by themselves. There's less work involved when your mood is high. You might even want to consider the word "summer" as a metaphor for love in this quote. Who's to say that Williams was literally referring to the summer season? The best thing about poetry is that it's all about interpretation.

"No price is set on the lavish summer; June may be had by the poorest comer."--James Russell Lowell from The Vision of Sir Launfal (1848) (source: quotegarden.com)

Although Lowell refers explicitly to summer, you may substitute the word "love" here as well. There are countless pop culture references I could make which would mean the same thing as this particular quote: "money can't buy me love", "love don't cost a thing", etc. Basically, anyone and everyone has access to love, even "the poorest comer." No matter who you are and what your circumstances, summer and love both happen repeatedly, even cyclically, in your life.

Summer love quotes are a dime a dozen, but quotes such as these are worth seeking out if only to brush up on your metaphorical skills!