The New Moon
When, as the garish day is done,Heaven burns with the descended sun,'Tis passing sweet to mark,Amid that flush of crimson light,The new moon's modest bow grow bright,As earth and sky grow dark.
Few are the hearts too cold to feelA thrill of gladness o'er them steal,When first the wandering eyeSees faintly, in the evening blaze,That glimmering curve of tender raysJust planted in the sky.
The sight of that young crescent bringsThoughts of all fair and youthful thingsThe hopes of early years;And childhood's purity and grace,And joys that like a rainbow chaseThe passing shower of tears.
The captive yields him to the dreamOf freedom, when that virgin beamComes out upon the air:And painfully the sick man triesTo fix his dim and burning eyesOn the soft promise there.
Most welcome to the lover's sight,Glitters that pure, emerging light;For prattling poets say,That sweetest is the lovers' walk,And tenderest is their murmured talk,Beneath its gentle ray.
And there do graver men beholdA type of errors, loved of old,Forsaken and forgiven;And thoughts and wishes not of earth,Just opening in their early birth,Like that new light in heaven.
Words in this poem
- garish a.
- Showy; dazzling; ostentatious; attracting or exciting attention. [Cf. OE. gauren to stare; of uncertain origin. Cf. gairish.]
- 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]
- graver n.
- One who graves; an engraver or a sculptor; one whose occupation is te cut letters or figures in stone or other hard material.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The New Moon 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, The New Moon, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-new-moon.html, id L07296.
Form and metre
The New Moon is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 AABCCB doneA · sunA · markB · lightC · brightC · darkB
- 2 AABCCB feelA · stealA · eyeB · blazeC · raysC · skyB
- 3 AABCCB bringsA · thingsA · yearsB · graceC · chaseC · tearsB
- 4 AABCCB dreamA · beamA · airB · triesC · eyesC · thereB
- 5 AABCCB sightA · lightA · sayB · walkC · talkC · rayB
- 6 AA-BB- beholdA · oldA · forgiven · earthB · birthB · heaven
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When, as the garish day is done, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Heaven burns with the descended sun, | 8 | /···˘/˘· |
| 'Tis passing sweet to mark, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Amid that flush of crimson light, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The new moon's modest bow grow bright, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As earth and sky grow dark. | 6 | ······ |
| Few are the hearts too cold to feel | 8 | ········ |
| A thrill of gladness o'er them steal, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When first the wandering eye | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Sees faintly, in the evening blaze, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That glimmering curve of tender rays | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Just planted in the sky. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The sight of that young crescent brings | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thoughts of all fair and youthful things | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The hopes of early years; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And childhood's purity and grace, | 8 | ·/·/˘˘·· |
| And joys that like a rainbow chase | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The passing shower of tears. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| The captive yields him to the dream | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of freedom, when that virgin beam | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Comes out upon the air: | 6 | ······ |
| And painfully the sick man tries | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| To fix his dim and burning eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On the soft promise there. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Most welcome to the lover's sight, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Glitters that pure, emerging light; | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| For prattling poets say, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That sweetest is the lovers' walk, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And tenderest is their murmured talk, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beneath its gentle ray. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And there do graver men behold | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A type of errors, loved of old, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Forsaken and forgiven; | 7 | ˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And thoughts and wishes not of earth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Just opening in their early birth, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like that new light in heaven. | 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.