Winter Stores
We take from life one little share,And say that this shall beA space, redeemed from toil and care,From tears and sadness free.
And, haply, Death unstrings his bow,And Sorrow stands apart,And, for a little while, we knowThe sunshine of the heart.
Existence seems a summer eve,Warm, soft, and full of peace,Our free, unfettered feelings giveThe soul its full release.
A moment, then, it takes the powerTo call up thoughts that throwAround that charmed and hallowed hour,This life's divinest glow.
But Time, though viewlessly it flies,And slowly, will not stay;Alike, through clear and clouded skies,It cleaves its silent way.
Alike the bitter cup of grief,Alike the draught of bliss,Its progress leaves but moment briefFor baffled lips to kiss
The sparkling draught is dried away,The hour of rest is gone,And urgent voices, round us, say,"Ho, lingerer, hasten on!"
And has the soul, then, only gained,From this brief time of ease,A moment's rest, when overstrained,One hurried glimpse of peace?
No; while the sun shone kindly o'er us,And flowers bloomed round our feet,--While many a bud of joy before usUnclosed its petals sweet,--
An unseen work within was plying;Like honey-seeking bee,From flower to flower, unwearied, flying,Laboured one faculty,--
Thoughtful for Winter's future sorrow,Its gloom and scarcity;Prescient to-day, of want to-morrow,Toiled quiet Memory.
'Tis she that from each transient pleasureExtracts a lasting good;'Tis she that finds, in summer, treasureTo serve for winter's food.
And when Youth's summer day is vanished,And Age brings Winter's stress,Her stores, with hoarded sweets replenished,Life's evening hours will bless.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- 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.
- lingerer n.
- One who lingers. Guardian.
- unclosed a.
- Not separated by inclosures; open. Clarendon. [Pref. un- not + closed.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- unwearied a.
- Not wearied; not fatigued or tired; hence, persistent; not tiring or wearying; indefatigable.
- laboured a.
- Bearing marks of labor and effort; elaborately wrought; not easy or natural; as, labored poetry; a labored style.
- prescient a.
- Having knowledge of coming events; foreseeing; conscious beforehand. [L. praesciens, -entis, p. pr. of praescire to foreknow; prae before + scire to know: cf. F. prescient. See Science.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Winter Stores is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Winter Stores, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/winter-stores.html, id L13229.
Form and metre
Winter Stores is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB shareA · beB · careA · freeB
- 2 ABAB bowA · apartB · knowA · heartB
- 3 -A-A eve · peaceA · give · releaseA
- 4 ABAB powerA · throwB · hourA · glowB
- 5 ABAB fliesA · stayB · skiesA · wayB
- 6 ABAB griefA · blissB · briefA · kissB
- 7 ABAB awayA · goneB · sayA · onB
- 8 A-A- gainedA · ease · overstrainedA · peace
- 9 ABAB usA · feetB · usA · sweetB
- 10 A-A- plyingA · bee · flyingA · faculty
- 11 A-A- sorrowA · scarcity · morrowA · memory
- 12 A-A- pleasureA · good · treasureA · food
- 13 -A-A vanished · stressA · replenished · blessA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We take from life one little share, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And say that this shall be | 6 | ······ |
| A space, redeemed from toil and care, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| From tears and sadness free. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And, haply, Death unstrings his bow, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And Sorrow stands apart, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And, for a little while, we know | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sunshine of the heart. | 6 | ·/···· |
| Existence seems a summer eve, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Warm, soft, and full of peace, | 6 | ······ |
| Our free, unfettered feelings give | 8 | /·˘/˘/˘· |
| The soul its full release. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A moment, then, it takes the power | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| To call up thoughts that throw | 6 | ······ |
| Around that charmed and hallowed hour, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| This life's divinest glow. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| But Time, though viewlessly it flies, | 8 | ········ |
| And slowly, will not stay; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Alike, through clear and clouded skies, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| It cleaves its silent way. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Alike the bitter cup of grief, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Alike the draught of bliss, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Its progress leaves but moment brief | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| For baffled lips to kiss | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The sparkling draught is dried away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The hour of rest is gone, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And urgent voices, round us, say, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Ho, lingerer, hasten on!" | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| And has the soul, then, only gained, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From this brief time of ease, | 6 | ······ |
| A moment's rest, when overstrained, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| One hurried glimpse of peace? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No; while the sun shone kindly o'er us, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And flowers bloomed round our feet,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| While many a bud of joy before us | 9 | ·/······· |
| Unclosed its petals sweet,-- | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| An unseen work within was plying; | 9 | ·˘/····/˘ |
| Like honey-seeking bee, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| From flower to flower, unwearied, flying, | 9 | ·/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Laboured one faculty,-- | 7 | /˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Thoughtful for Winter's future sorrow, | 9 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Its gloom and scarcity; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Prescient to-day, of want to-morrow, | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Toiled quiet Memory. | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| 'Tis she that from each transient pleasure | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Extracts a lasting good; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| 'Tis she that finds, in summer, treasure | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| To serve for winter's food. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And when Youth's summer day is vanished, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And Age brings Winter's stress, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Her stores, with hoarded sweets replenished, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Life's evening hours will bless. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
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.