Contrast

The speaker of Ruth Roach Pierson’s poem, “Summer in the Yakima Valley,” talks about his days on the farm with his cousin. He has many contrasting feelings towards the farm that are triggered by the transition between day and night. In the day he speaks affectionately of the farm. He admires the abundance of fruits the trees yield and finds excitement in venturing the farm’s grounds. When day shifts to night and he is lying to sleep with his cousin in the barn on the hill, his feelings turn to discomfort and distress. He feels imprisoned in the room as he is subject to the mysterious sounds of night. He starts to miss his home. While in the day the speaker and his cousin enjoy running around the farm and swimming in the muddied water of the irrigation ditch, enjoying the excitement of the dangers of the whirlpool’s pull, the night contains no movement at all. The two lay in the attic of the barn and the dangers heard by the speaker do not hold the same joy that the days dangers held.