The Day of Sunshine
It was such a lovely sunshine-day,The house and the yard couldn't hold me;I roved to the woods, on my back I lay,In cradle of fancy rolled me;But there were ants, and gnats that bite,The horse-fly was keen, the wasp showed fight.
"Dear me, don't you want to be out in this fineweather?" --said mother, who sat on the steps and sang.
It was such a lovely sunshine-day,The house and the yard couldn't hold me;A meadow I found, on my back I lay,And sang what my spirit told me;Then snakes came crawling, a fathom long,To bask in the sun,--I fled with my song.
"In such blessed weather we can go barefoot,"--said mother,as she pulled off her stockings.
It was such a lovely sunshine-day,The house and the yard couldn't hold me;I loosened a boat, on my back I lay,While blithely the current bowled me;But hot grew the sun, and peeled my nose;Enough was enough, and to land I chose.
"Now these are just the days to make hay in,"-- said mother,as she stuck the rake in it.
It was such a lovely sunshine-day,The house and the yard couldn't hold me;I climbed up a tree, oh, what bliss to play,As cooling the breeze consoled me;But worms soon fell on my neck, by chance,And jumping, I cried: "'T is the Devil's own dance!"
"Yes, if the cows aren't sleek and shiny to-day, they'llnever be so,"--said mother, gazing up the hillside.
It was such a lovely sunshine-day,The house and the yard couldn't hold me;I dashed to the waterfall's endless play,There only could peace enfold me.The shining sun saw me drown and die,--If you made this ditty, 't was surely not I.
"Three more such sunshine-days, and everything willbe in,"--said mother, and went to make my bed.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- bask v. i.
- To lie in warmth; to be exposed to genial heat. [OScand. ba to bathe one's self, or perh. bakask to bake one's self, sk being reflexive. See Bath, n., Bake, v. t.]
- barefoot a.
- With the feet bare; without shoes or stockings.
- blithely adv.
- In a blithe manner.
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- shiny a.
- Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Day of Sunshine is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, The Day of Sunshine, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/the-day-of-sunshine.html, id L29237.
Form and metre
The Day of Sunshine is 40 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 5 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCC dayA · meB · layA · meB · biteC · fightC
- 3 ABABCC dayA · meB · layA · meB · longC · songC
- 5 ABABCC dayA · meB · layA · meB · noseC · choseC
- 7 ABABCC dayA · meB · playA · meB · chanceC · danceC
- 9 ABABCC dayA · meB · playA · meB · dieC · iC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It was such a lovely sunshine-day, | 9 | ····/˘/·· |
| The house and the yard couldn't hold me; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I roved to the woods, on my back I lay, | 10 | ·········· |
| In cradle of fancy rolled me; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| But there were ants, and gnats that bite, | 8 | ········ |
| The horse-fly was keen, the wasp showed fight. | 9 | ········· |
| "Dear me, don't you want to be out in this fine | 11 | ··········· |
| weather?" --said mother, who sat on the steps and sang. | 12 | /˘·/˘······· |
| It was such a lovely sunshine-day, | 9 | ····/˘/·· |
| The house and the yard couldn't hold me; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| A meadow I found, on my back I lay, | 10 | ·/········ |
| And sang what my spirit told me; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Then snakes came crawling, a fathom long, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| To bask in the sun,--I fled with my song. | 10 | ·········· |
| "In such blessed weather we can go barefoot,"--said mother, | 13 | ···/˘···/··/˘ |
| as she pulled off her stockings. | 8 | ···˘··/˘ |
| It was such a lovely sunshine-day, | 9 | ····/˘/·· |
| The house and the yard couldn't hold me; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I loosened a boat, on my back I lay, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| While blithely the current bowled me; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| But hot grew the sun, and peeled my nose; | 9 | ········· |
| Enough was enough, and to land I chose. | 10 | ˘/·˘/····· |
| "Now these are just the days to make hay in,"-- said mother, | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| as she stuck the rake in it. | 7 | ······· |
| It was such a lovely sunshine-day, | 9 | ····/˘/·· |
| The house and the yard couldn't hold me; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I climbed up a tree, oh, what bliss to play, | 10 | ·········· |
| As cooling the breeze consoled me; | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| But worms soon fell on my neck, by chance, | 9 | ········· |
| And jumping, I cried: "'T is the Devil's own dance!" | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘·· |
| "Yes, if the cows aren't sleek and shiny to-day, they'll | 13 | ····/˘··/˘··· |
| never be so,"--said mother, gazing up the hillside. | 12 | /···/˘/˘··/· |
| It was such a lovely sunshine-day, | 9 | ····/˘/·· |
| The house and the yard couldn't hold me; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I dashed to the waterfall's endless play, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| There only could peace enfold me. | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| The shining sun saw me drown and die,-- | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| If you made this ditty, 't was surely not I. | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
| "Three more such sunshine-days, and everything will | 11 | ···/···/˘·· |
| be in,"--said mother, and went to make my bed. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
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.