summer dormancy - literary reference

Hi folks -

I am working on an article about summer dormancy in mediterranean 
climates.  I would be very interested to hear from any of you on this 
topic.  Working from the approach that our dormancy is in summer rather 
than winter seems to help people really get a grip on the differences 
between this and other (cold winter, i.e. winter dormant) climates.

I'm trying to research literary references relating to this summer 
dormancy, especially in poetry (which seem particularly hard!).  I imagine 
some of these might actually be in a foreign language (French, Italian, 
Greek, Spanish, Portuguese) which would be fine - I could translate for my 
purposes.

The kind of stuff I am looking for relates to how the natural world slows 
down and goes to 'sleep' to get through the rigors of the warm and dry 
summer period.  How life also slows and changes, is perhaps more relaxing 
and less hectic, either because the natural world has slowed or because our 
lives have also slowed because of the same rigors.  As we here in the 
northern hemisphere start to slip into this season of rest, as as those in 
the southern hemisphere have left is recently, perhaps we can all reflect 
on this topic breifly.

I would also be interested in artistic representations (famous paintings or 
drawings) depicting the same.

I anyone wishes me to explain this more fully, please let me know.
Thanks,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara            fax (707) 667-1173         sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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