In Imitation of Shakspeare's "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind"
Blow, blow, thou vernal gale!Thy balm will not availTo ease my aching breast;Though thou the billows smooth,Thy murmurs cannot sootheMy weary soul to rest.
Flow, flow, thou tuneful stream!Infuse the easy dreamInto the peaceful soul;But thou canst not composeThe tumult of my woes,Though soft thy waters roll.
Blush, blush, ye fairest flowers!Beauties surpassing yoursMy Rosalind adorn;Nor is the Winter's blast,That lays your glories waste,So killing as her scorn.
Breathe, breathe, ye tender lays,That linger down the mazeOf yonder winding grove;O let your soft controlBend her relenting soulTo pity and to love.
Fade, fade, ye flowerets fair!Gales, fan no more the air!Ye streams, forget to glide;Be hush'd each vernal strain;Since nought can soothe my pain,Nor mitigate her pride.
Words in this poem
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Imitation of Shakspeare's "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #8695; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Beattie, In Imitation of Shakspeare's "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind", in The Minstrel and Other Poems (1771–1774), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/beattie-minstrel/in-imitation-of-shakspeare-s-blow-blow-thou-winter-wind.html, id L09613.
Form and metre
In Imitation of Shakspeare's "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind" is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABCCB galeA · availA · breastB · smoothC · sootheC · restB
- 2 AABCCB streamA · dreamA · soulB · composeC · woesC · rollB
- 3 --A--A flowers · yours · adornA · blast · waste · scornA
- 4 AABCCB laysA · mazeA · groveB · controlC · soulC · loveB
- 5 AABCCB fairA · airA · glideB · strainC · painC · prideB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Blow, blow, thou vernal gale! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy balm will not avail | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To ease my aching breast; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Though thou the billows smooth, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy murmurs cannot soothe | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| My weary soul to rest. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Flow, flow, thou tuneful stream! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Infuse the easy dream | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Into the peaceful soul; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But thou canst not compose | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The tumult of my woes, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Though soft thy waters roll. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Blush, blush, ye fairest flowers! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Beauties surpassing yours | 6 | /˘˘/˘· |
| My Rosalind adorn; | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Nor is the Winter's blast, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That lays your glories waste, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So killing as her scorn. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Breathe, breathe, ye tender lays, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That linger down the maze | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of yonder winding grove; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| O let your soft control | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Bend her relenting soul | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To pity and to love. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Fade, fade, ye flowerets fair! | 7 | ······· |
| Gales, fan no more the air! | 6 | ······ |
| Ye streams, forget to glide; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Be hush'd each vernal strain; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Since nought can soothe my pain, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor mitigate her pride. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.