A Summer Ramble
The quiet August noon has come,A slumberous silence fills the sky,The fields are still, the woods are dumb,In glassy sleep the waters lie.
And mark yon soft white clouds that restAbove our vale, a moveless throng;The cattle on the mountain's breastEnjoy the grateful shadow long.
Oh, how unlike those merry hoursIn early June when Earth laughs out,When the fresh winds make love to flowers,And woodlands sing and waters shout.
When in the grass sweet voices talk,And strains of tiny music swellFrom every moss-cup of the rock,From every nameless blossom's bell.
But now a joy too deep for sound,A peace no other season knows,Hushes the heavens and wraps the ground,The blessing of supreme repose.
Away! I will not be, to-day,The only slave of toil and care.Away from desk and dust! away!I'll be as idle as the air.
Beneath the open sky abroad,Among the plants and breathing things,The sinless, peaceful works of God,I'll share the calm the season brings.
Come, thou, in whose soft eyes I seeThe gentle meanings of thy heart,One day amid the woods with me,From men and all their cares apart.
And where, upon the meadow's breast,The shadow of the thicket lies,The blue wild flowers thou gatherestShall glow yet deeper near thine eyes.
Come, and when mid the calm profound,I turn, those gentle eyes to seek,They, like the lovely landscape round,Of innocence and peace shall speak.
Rest here, beneath the unmoving shade,And on the silent valleys gaze,Winding and widening, till they fadeIn yon soft ring of summer haze.
The village trees their summits rearStill as its spire, and yonder flockAt rest in those calm fields appearAs chiselled from the lifeless rock.
One tranquil mount the scene o'erlooks--There the hushed winds their sabbath keepWhile a near hum from bees and brooksComes faintly like the breath of sleep.
Well may the gazer deem that when,Worn with the struggle and the strife,And heart-sick at the wrongs of men,The good forsakes the scene of life;
Like this deep quiet that, awhile,Lingers the lovely landscape o'er,Shall be the peace whose holy smileWelcomes him to a happier shore.
Words in this poem
- slumberous a.
- Inviting slumber; soporiferous.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- moveless a.
- Motionless; fixed.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- sinless a.
- Free from sin. Piers Plowman.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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,]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- 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
A Summer Ramble is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, A Summer Ramble, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/a-summer-ramble.html, id L07307.
Form and metre
A Summer Ramble is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 15 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, 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 8.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB comeA · skyB · dumbA · lieB
- 2 ABAB restA · throngB · breastA · longB
- 3 ABAB hoursA · outB · flowersA · shoutB
- 4 -A-A talk · swellA · rock · bellA
- 5 ABAB soundA · knowsB · groundA · reposeB
- 6 ABAB dayA · careB · awayA · airB
- 7 -A-A abroad · thingsA · god · bringsA
- 8 ABAB seeA · heartB · meA · apartB
- 9 ABAB breastA · liesB · gatherestA · eyesB
- 10 ABAB profoundA · seekB · roundA · speakB
- 11 ABAB shadeA · gazeB · fadeA · hazeB
- 12 ABAB rearA · flockB · appearA · rockB
- 13 ABAB o'erlooksA · keepB · brooksA · sleepB
- 14 ABAB whenA · strifeB · menA · lifeB
- 15 A-A- awhileA · o'er · smileA · shore
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The quiet August noon has come, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A slumberous silence fills the sky, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| The fields are still, the woods are dumb, | 8 | ········ |
| In glassy sleep the waters lie. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And mark yon soft white clouds that rest | 8 | ········ |
| Above our vale, a moveless throng; | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| The cattle on the mountain's breast | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Enjoy the grateful shadow long. | 8 | ˘/·/˘/·· |
| Oh, how unlike those merry hours | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| In early June when Earth laughs out, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When the fresh winds make love to flowers, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And woodlands sing and waters shout. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| When in the grass sweet voices talk, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And strains of tiny music swell | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| From every moss-cup of the rock, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| From every nameless blossom's bell. | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| But now a joy too deep for sound, | 8 | ········ |
| A peace no other season knows, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Hushes the heavens and wraps the ground, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| The blessing of supreme repose. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Away! I will not be, to-day, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The only slave of toil and care. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Away from desk and dust! away! | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| I'll be as idle as the air. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beneath the open sky abroad, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Among the plants and breathing things, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sinless, peaceful works of God, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I'll share the calm the season brings. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Come, thou, in whose soft eyes I see | 8 | ········ |
| The gentle meanings of thy heart, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| One day amid the woods with me, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| From men and all their cares apart. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And where, upon the meadow's breast, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The shadow of the thicket lies, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| The blue wild flowers thou gatherest | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| Shall glow yet deeper near thine eyes. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Come, and when mid the calm profound, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I turn, those gentle eyes to seek, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They, like the lovely landscape round, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Of innocence and peace shall speak. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Rest here, beneath the unmoving shade, | 9 | ········· |
| And on the silent valleys gaze, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Winding and widening, till they fade | 9 | /˘·/˘˘··· |
| In yon soft ring of summer haze. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The village trees their summits rear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Still as its spire, and yonder flock | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At rest in those calm fields appear | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As chiselled from the lifeless rock. | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| One tranquil mount the scene o'erlooks-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There the hushed winds their sabbath keep | 9 | ···˘··/˘· |
| While a near hum from bees and brooks | 8 | ········ |
| Comes faintly like the breath of sleep. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Well may the gazer deem that when, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Worn with the struggle and the strife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And heart-sick at the wrongs of men, | 8 | ········ |
| The good forsakes the scene of life; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Like this deep quiet that, awhile, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Lingers the lovely landscape o'er, | 8 | /˘·/˘/·· |
| Shall be the peace whose holy smile | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Welcomes him to a happier shore. | 9 | /˘···/˘˘· |
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.