North Wind in October
In the golden glade the chestnuts are fallen all;From the sered boughs of the oak the acorns fall:The beech scatters her ruddy fire;The lime hath stripped to the cold,And standeth naked above her yellow attire:The larch thinneth her spireTo lay the ways of the wood with cloth of gold.
Out of the golden-green and whiteOf the brake the fir-trees stand uprightIn the forest of flame, and wave aloftTo the blue of heaven their blue-green tuftings soft.
But swiftly in shuddering gloom the splendours fail,As the harrying North-wind bearethA cloud of skirmishing hailThe grievèd woodland to smite:In a hurricane through the trees he teareth,Raking the boughs and the leaves rending,And whistleth to the descendingBlows of his icy flail.Gold and snow he mixeth in spite,And whirleth afar; as away on his winnowing flightHe passeth, and all again for awhile is bright.
Words in this poem
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- raking n.
- The act or process of using a rake; the going over a space with a rake.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- winnowing n.
- The act of one who, or that which, winnows.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
North Wind in October is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Excluding the Eight Dramas, Project Gutenberg ebook #37804; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bridges, North Wind in October, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/north-wind-in-october.html, id L01784.
Form and metre
North Wind in October is 22 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 AABCB-C allA · fallA · fireB · coldC · attireB · spire · goldC
- 2 AABB whiteA · uprightA · aloftB · softB
- 3 ABACBDDACCC failA · bearethB · hailA · smiteC · tearethB · rendingD · descendingD · flailA · spiteC · flightC · brightC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the golden glade the chestnuts are fallen all; | 12 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘· |
| From the sered boughs of the oak the acorns fall: | 11 | ········/˘· |
| The beech scatters her ruddy fire; | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| The lime hath stripped to the cold, | 7 | ······· |
| And standeth naked above her yellow attire: | 12 | ·/˘/˘···/˘˘/ |
| The larch thinneth her spire | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| To lay the ways of the wood with cloth of gold. | 11 | ··········· |
| Out of the golden-green and white | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of the brake the fir-trees stand upright | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| In the forest of flame, and wave aloft | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| To the blue of heaven their blue-green tuftings soft. | 11 | ····/······ |
| But swiftly in shuddering gloom the splendours fail, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| As the harrying North-wind beareth | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| A cloud of skirmishing hail | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The grievèd woodland to smite: | 6 | ··/··· |
| In a hurricane through the trees he teareth, | 11 | ··/˘·····/˘ |
| Raking the boughs and the leaves rending, | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| And whistleth to the descending | 9 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Blows of his icy flail. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Gold and snow he mixeth in spite, | 8 | ········ |
| And whirleth afar; as away on his winnowing flight | 14 | ·/˘˘/·˘/··/·˘· |
| He passeth, and all again for awhile is bright. | 12 | ·/˘··˘/·˘/·· |
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.