A Touch of Nature
When first the crocus thrusts its point of goldUp through the still snow-drifted garden mould,And folded green things in dim woods uncloseTheir crinkled spears, a sudden tremor goesInto my veins and makes me kith and kinTo every wild-born thing that thrills and blows.Sitting beside this crumbling sea-coal fire,Here in the city's ceaseless roar and din,Far from the brambly paths I used to know,Far from the rustling brooks that slip and shineWhere the Neponset alders take their glow,I share the tremulous sense of bud and briarAnd inarticulate ardors of the vine.
Words in this poem
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- crinkled a.
- Having short bends, turns, or wrinkles; wrinkled; wavy; zigzag.
- kith n.
- Acquaintance; kindred. [OE. kith, cu, AS. cc known. Uncouth, Can, and cf. Kythe.]
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- brambly a.
- Pertaining to, resembling, or full of, brambles.
- briar n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Touch of Nature is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sisters' Tragedy, with Other Poems, Lyrical and Dramatic, Project Gutenberg ebook #595; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Bailey Aldrich, A Touch of Nature, in The Sisters' Tragedy, with Other Poems (1891), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #595, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/aldrich-poems/a-touch-of-nature.html, id L10765.
Form and metre
A Touch of Nature is 13 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes AABBCBDCEFEDF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCBDCEFEDF goldA · mouldA · uncloseB · goesB · kinC · blowsB · fireD · dinC · knowE · shineF · glowE · briarD · vineF
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When first the crocus thrusts its point of gold | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Up through the still snow-drifted garden mould, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And folded green things in dim woods unclose | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Their crinkled spears, a sudden tremor goes | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Into my veins and makes me kith and kin | 10 | ·········· |
| To every wild-born thing that thrills and blows. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Sitting beside this crumbling sea-coal fire, | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··/ |
| Here in the city's ceaseless roar and din, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Far from the brambly paths I used to know, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Far from the rustling brooks that slip and shine | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where the Neponset alders take their glow, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| I share the tremulous sense of bud and briar | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| And inarticulate ardors of the vine. | 10 | ·˘˘/˘/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.