Out on the lawn I lie in bed,
Vega conspicuous overhead
In the windless nights of June,
As congregated leaves complete
Their day's activity; my feet
Point to the rising moon.
Lucky, this point in time and space
Is chosen as my working-place,
Where the sexy airs of summer,
The bathing hours and the bare arms,
The leisured drives through a land of farms
Are good to a newcomer.
Equal with colleagues in a ring
I sit on each calm evening
Enchanted as the flowers
The opening light draws out of hiding
Auden records an experience he had while teaching at  the Downs : 
 One fine summer night in June 1933 I was sitting on a lawn after dinner with three colleagues…. [Q]uite suddenly and unexpectedly, something happened…. For the first time in my life I knew exactly…what it means to love one’s neighbor as oneself. ( Forewords and Afterwords  69)
A Summer Night to Geoffrey Hoyland