March
The stormy March is come at last,With wind, and cloud, and changing skies,I hear the rushing of the blast,That through the snowy valley flies.
Ah, passing few are they who speak,Wild stormy month! in praise of thee;Yet, though thy winds are loud and bleak,Thou art a welcome month to me.
For thou, to northern lands, againThe glad and glorious sun dost bring,And thou hast joined the gentle trainAnd wear'st the gentle name of Spring.
And, in thy reign of blast and storm,Smiles many a long, bright, sunny day,When the changed winds are soft and warm,And heaven puts on the blue of May.
Then sing aloud the gushing rillsAnd the full springs, from frost set free,That, brightly leaping down the hills,Are just set out to meet the sea.
The year's departing beauty hidesOf wintry storms the sullen threat;But in thy sternest frown abidesA look of kindly promise yet.
Thou bring'st the hope of those calm skies,And that soft time of sunny showers,When the wide bloom, on earth that lies,Seems of a brighter world than ours.
Words in this poem
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
March 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, March, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/march.html, id L07267.
Form and metre
March is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 lastA · skiesB · blastA · fliesB
- 2 ABAB speakA · theeB · bleakA · meB
- 3 ABAB againA · bringB · trainA · springB
- 4 ABAB stormA · dayB · warmA · mayB
- 5 ABAB rillsA · freeB · hillsA · seaB
- 6 ABAB hidesA · threatB · abidesA · yetB
- 7 ABAB skiesA · showersB · liesA · oursB
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 stormy March is come at last, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With wind, and cloud, and changing skies, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I hear the rushing of the blast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That through the snowy valley flies. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Ah, passing few are they who speak, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wild stormy month! in praise of thee; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yet, though thy winds are loud and bleak, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou art a welcome month to me. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For thou, to northern lands, again | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The glad and glorious sun dost bring, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| And thou hast joined the gentle train | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| And wear'st the gentle name of Spring. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, in thy reign of blast and storm, | 8 | ········ |
| Smiles many a long, bright, sunny day, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| When the changed winds are soft and warm, | 9 | ···˘····· |
| And heaven puts on the blue of May. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Then sing aloud the gushing rills | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And the full springs, from frost set free, | 8 | ········ |
| That, brightly leaping down the hills, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Are just set out to meet the sea. | 8 | ········ |
| The year's departing beauty hides | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Of wintry storms the sullen threat; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But in thy sternest frown abides | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A look of kindly promise yet. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thou bring'st the hope of those calm skies, | 8 | ········ |
| And that soft time of sunny showers, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| When the wide bloom, on earth that lies, | 8 | ········ |
| Seems of a brighter world than ours. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
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