Spring in Town
The country ever has a lagging Spring,Waiting for May to call its violets forth,And June its roses--showers and sunshine bring,Slowly, the deepening verdure o'er the earth;To put their foliage out, the woods are slack,And one by one the singing-birds come back.
Within the city's bounds the time of flowersComes earlier. Let a mild and sunny day,Such as full often, for a few bright hours,Breathes through the sky of March the airs of May,Shine on our roofs and chase the wintry gloom--And lo! our borders glow with sudden bloom.
For the wide sidewalks of Broadway are thenGorgeous as are a rivulet's banks in June,That overhung with blossoms, through its glen,Slides soft away beneath the sunny noon,And they who search the untrodden wood for flowersMeet in its depths no lovelier ones than ours.
For here are eyes that shame the violet,Or the dark drop that on the pansy lies,And foreheads, white, as when in clusters set,The anemones by forest fountains rise;And the spring-beauty boasts no tenderer streakThan the soft red on many a youthful cheek.
And thick about those lovely temples lieLocks that the lucky Vignardonne has curled,Thrice happy man! whose trade it is to buy,And bake, and braid those love-knots of the world;Who curls of every glossy colour keepest,And sellest, it is said, the blackest cheapest.
And well thou mayst--for Italy's brown maidsSend the dark locks with which their brows are dressed,And Gascon lasses, from their jetty braids,Crop half, to buy a riband for the rest;But the fresh Norman girls their tresses spare,And the Dutch damsel keeps her flaxen hair.
Then, henceforth, let no maid nor matron grieve,To see her locks of an unlovely hue,Frouzy or thin, for liberal art shall giveSuch piles of curls as nature never knew.Eve, with her veil of tresses, at the sightHad blushed, outdone, and owned herself a fright.
Soft voices and light laughter wake the street,Like notes of woodbirds, and where'er the eyeThreads the long way, plumes wave, and twinkling feetFall light, as hastes that crowd of beauty by.The ostrich, hurrying o'er the desert space,Scarce bore those tossing plumes with fleeter pace.
No swimming Juno gait, of languor born,Is theirs, but a light step of freest grace,Light as Camilla's o'er the unbent corn,--A step that speaks the spirit of the place,Since Quiet, meek old dame, was driven awayTo Sing Sing and the shores of Tappan bay.
Ye that dash by in chariots! who will careFor steeds or footmen now? ye cannot showFair face, and dazzling dress, and graceful air,And last edition of the shape! Ah no,These sights are for the earth and open sky,And your loud wheels unheeded rattle by.
Words in this poem 18
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
- 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.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- overhung a.
- Covered over; ornamented with hangings. Carlyle.
- bake v. t.
- To prepare, as food, by cooking in a dry heat, either in an oven or under coals, or on heated stone or metal; as, to bake bread, meat, apples.
- gascon a.
- Of or pertaining to Gascony, in France, or to the Gascons; also, braggart; swaggering. [F.]
- jetty v. i.
- To jut out; to project. Florio.
- damsel n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- flaxen a.
- Made of flax; resembling flax or its fibers; of the color of flax; of a light soft straw color; fair and flowing, like flax or tow; as, flaxen thread; flaxen hair.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- unlovely a.
- Not lovely; not amiable; possessing qualities that excite dislike; disagreeable; displeasing; unpleasant.
- frouzy a.
- Fetid, musty; rank; disordered and offensive to the smell or sight; slovenly; dingy. See Frowzy. [Prov. E. frouzy froward, peevish, offensive to the eye or smell; cf. froust a musty smell, frouse to rumple, frouze to curl, and E. frounce, frowy.]
- 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,]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- 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]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spring in Town 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, Spring in Town, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/spring-in-town.html, id L07300.
Form and metre
Spring in Town is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 7 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 5 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 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 A-A-BB springA · forth · bringA · earth · slackB · backB
- 2 ABABCC flowersA · dayB · hoursA · mayB · gloomC · bloomC
- 3 ABABCC thenA · juneB · glenA · noonB · flowersC · oursC
- 4 ABABCC violetA · liesB · setA · riseB · streakC · cheekC
- 5 ABAB-- lieA · curledB · buyA · worldB · keepest · cheapest
- 6 ABABCC maidsA · dressedB · braidsA · restB · spareC · hairC
- 7 -A-ABB grieve · hueA · give · knewA · sightB · frightB
- 8 ABABCC streetA · eyeB · feetA · byB · spaceC · paceC
- 9 ABABCC bornA · graceB · cornA · placeB · awayC · bayC
- 10 ABABCC careA · showB · airA · noB · skyC · byC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The country ever has a lagging Spring, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Waiting for May to call its violets forth, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And June its roses--showers and sunshine bring, | 10 | ···/˘/·/·· |
| Slowly, the deepening verdure o'er the earth; | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| To put their foliage out, the woods are slack, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And one by one the singing-birds come back. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Within the city's bounds the time of flowers | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Comes earlier. Let a mild and sunny day, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Such as full often, for a few bright hours, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Breathes through the sky of March the airs of May, | 10 | ·········· |
| Shine on our roofs and chase the wintry gloom-- | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| And lo! our borders glow with sudden bloom. | 10 | ··//˘··/˘· |
| For the wide sidewalks of Broadway are then | 10 | ···/··/··· |
| Gorgeous as are a rivulet's banks in June, | 11 | /˘········· |
| That overhung with blossoms, through its glen, | 10 | ·˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Slides soft away beneath the sunny noon, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| And they who search the untrodden wood for flowers | 11 | ··········/ |
| Meet in its depths no lovelier ones than ours. | 11 | ··········/ |
| For here are eyes that shame the violet, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Or the dark drop that on the pansy lies, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And foreheads, white, as when in clusters set, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| The anemones by forest fountains rise; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And the spring-beauty boasts no tenderer streak | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Than the soft red on many a youthful cheek. | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| And thick about those lovely temples lie | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Locks that the lucky Vignardonne has curled, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thrice happy man! whose trade it is to buy, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And bake, and braid those love-knots of the world; | 10 | ·········· |
| Who curls of every glossy colour keepest, | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And sellest, it is said, the blackest cheapest. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| And well thou mayst--for Italy's brown maids | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Send the dark locks with which their brows are dressed, | 10 | ·········· |
| And Gascon lasses, from their jetty braids, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Crop half, to buy a riband for the rest; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But the fresh Norman girls their tresses spare, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And the Dutch damsel keeps her flaxen hair. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then, henceforth, let no maid nor matron grieve, | 10 | ·//····/˘· |
| To see her locks of an unlovely hue, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Frouzy or thin, for liberal art shall give | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Such piles of curls as nature never knew. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Eve, with her veil of tresses, at the sight | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Had blushed, outdone, and owned herself a fright. | 10 | ··//··˘/·· |
| Soft voices and light laughter wake the street, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Like notes of woodbirds, and where'er the eye | 11 | ······˘˘/·· |
| Threads the long way, plumes wave, and twinkling feet | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fall light, as hastes that crowd of beauty by. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The ostrich, hurrying o'er the desert space, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Scarce bore those tossing plumes with fleeter pace. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| No swimming Juno gait, of languor born, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Is theirs, but a light step of freest grace, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Light as Camilla's o'er the unbent corn,-- | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| A step that speaks the spirit of the place, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Since Quiet, meek old dame, was driven away | 10 | ·/····/˘˘/ |
| To Sing Sing and the shores of Tappan bay. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ye that dash by in chariots! who will care | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For steeds or footmen now? ye cannot show | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fair face, and dazzling dress, and graceful air, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And last edition of the shape! Ah no, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| These sights are for the earth and open sky, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And your loud wheels unheeded rattle by. | 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.