Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood
Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth which needsNo school of long experience, that the worldIs full of guilt and misery, and hast seenEnough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares,To tire thee of it, enter this wild woodAnd view the haunts of Nature. The calm shadeShall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breezeThat makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balmTo thy sick heart. Thou wilt find nothing hereOf all that pained thee in the haunts of menAnd made thee loathe thy life. The primal curseFell, it is true, upon the unsinning earth,But not in vengeance. God hath yoked to guiltHer pale tormentor, misery. Hence, these shadesAre still the abodes of gladness; the thick roofOf green and stirring branches is aliveAnd musical with birds, that sing and sportIn wantonness of spirit; while belowThe squirrel, with raised paws and form erect,Chirps merrily. Throngs of insects in the shadeTry their thin wings and dance in the warm beamThat waked them into life. Even the green treesPartake the deep contentment; as they bendTo the soft winds, the sun from the blue skyLooks in and sheds a blessing on the scene.Scarce less the cleft-born wild-flower seems to enjoyExistence, than the winged plundererThat sucks its sweets. The massy rocks themselves,And the old and ponderous trunks of prostrate treesThat lead from knoll to knoll a causey rudeOr bridge the sunken brook, and their dark roots,With all their earth upon them, twisting high,Breathe fixed tranquillity. The rivuletSends forth glad sounds, and tripping o'er its bedOf pebbly sands, or leaping down the rocks,Seems, with continuous laughter, to rejoiceIn its own being. Softly tread the marge,Lest from her midway perch thou scare the wrenThat dips her bill in water. The cool wind,That stirs the stream in play, shall come to thee,Like one that loves thee nor will let thee passUngreeted, and shall give its light embrace.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- 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,]
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- primal a.
- First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
- tormentor n.
- One who, or that which, torments; one who inflicts penal anguish or tortures. Jer. Taylor.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- massy a.
- Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
- causey n.
- A way or road rasid above the natural level of the ground, serving as a dry passage over wet or marshy ground. [OE. cauci, cauchie, OF. cauchie, F. chaussée, from LL. (via) calciata, fr calciare to make a road, either fr. L. calx lime, hence, to pave with limestone (cf. E]
- pebbly a.
- Full of pebbles; pebbled.
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- midway n.
- The middle of the way or distance; a middle way or course.
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood 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, Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/inscription-for-the-entrance-to-a-wood.html, id L07250.
Form and metre
Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood is 42 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 71% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth which needs | 10 | /˘········ |
| No school of long experience, that the world | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Enough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And view the haunts of Nature. The calm shade | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm | 10 | ·········· |
| To thy sick heart. Thou wilt find nothing here | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of all that pained thee in the haunts of men | 10 | ·········· |
| And made thee loathe thy life. The primal curse | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fell, it is true, upon the unsinning earth, | 11 | ··········· |
| But not in vengeance. God hath yoked to guilt | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Her pale tormentor, misery. Hence, these shades | 10 | ··/·˘/˘··· |
| Are still the abodes of gladness; the thick roof | 11 | ···˘/·/˘··· |
| Of green and stirring branches is alive | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And musical with birds, that sing and sport | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| In wantonness of spirit; while below | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| The squirrel, with raised paws and form erect, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Chirps merrily. Throngs of insects in the shade | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Try their thin wings and dance in the warm beam | 10 | ·········· |
| That waked them into life. Even the green trees | 10 | ······/··· |
| Partake the deep contentment; as they bend | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| To the soft winds, the sun from the blue sky | 10 | ·········· |
| Looks in and sheds a blessing on the scene. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Scarce less the cleft-born wild-flower seems to enjoy | 11 | ······/··˘/ |
| Existence, than the winged plunderer | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| That sucks its sweets. The massy rocks themselves, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And the old and ponderous trunks of prostrate trees | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| That lead from knoll to knoll a causey rude | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or bridge the sunken brook, and their dark roots, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With all their earth upon them, twisting high, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Breathe fixed tranquillity. The rivulet | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Sends forth glad sounds, and tripping o'er its bed | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of pebbly sands, or leaping down the rocks, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Seems, with continuous laughter, to rejoice | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In its own being. Softly tread the marge, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Lest from her midway perch thou scare the wren | 10 | ···/······ |
| That dips her bill in water. The cool wind, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That stirs the stream in play, shall come to thee, | 10 | ·········· |
| Like one that loves thee nor will let thee pass | 10 | ·········· |
| Ungreeted, and shall give its light embrace. | 10 | ········˘/ |
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.