The Yellow Violet
When beechen buds begin to swell,And woods the blue-bird's warble know,The yellow violet's modest bellPeeps from the last year's leaves below.
Ere russet fields their green resume,Sweet flower, I love, in forest bare,To meet thee, when thy faint perfumeAlone is in the virgin air.
Of all her train, the hands of SpringFirst plant thee in the watery mould,And I have seen thee blossomingBeside the snow-bank's edges cold.
Thy parent sun, who bade thee viewPale skies, and chilling moisture sip,Has bathed thee in his own bright hue,And streaked with jet thy glowing lip.
Yet slight thy form, and low thy seat,And earthward bent thy gentle eye,Unapt the passing view to meet,When loftier flowers are flaunting nigh.
Oft, in the sunless April day,Thy early smile has stayed my walk;But midst the gorgeous blooms of May,I passed thee on thy humble stalk.
So they, who climb to wealth, forgetThe friends in darker fortunes tried.I copied them--but I regretThat I should ape the ways of pride.
And when again the genial hourAwakes the painted tribes of light,I'll not o'erlook the modest flowerThat made the woods of April bright.
Words in this poem
- beechen a.
- Consisting, or made, of the wood or bark of the beech; belonging to the beech. [AS. b.]
- warble v. t.
- To sing in a trilling, quavering, or vibratory manner; to modulate with turns or variations; to trill; as, certain birds are remarkable for warbling their songs. [OE. werbelen, OF. werbler; of Teutonic origin; cf. G. wirbeln to turn, to warble, D. wervelen, akin to E. whirl. See Whirl.]
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
- unapt a.
- Inapt; slow; dull.
- sunless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the sun or its rays; shaded; shadowed.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- 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.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Yellow Violet 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 Yellow Violet, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-yellow-violet.html, id L07249.
Form and metre
The Yellow Violet is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 swellA · knowB · bellA · belowB
- 2 ABAB resumeA · bareB · perfumeA · airB
- 3 ABAB springA · mouldB · blossomingA · coldB
- 4 ABAB viewA · sipB · hueA · lipB
- 5 ABAB seatA · eyeB · meetA · nighB
- 6 ABAB dayA · walkB · mayA · stalkB
- 7 ABAB forgetA · triedB · regretA · prideB
- 8 ABAB hourA · lightB · flowerA · brightB
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 beechen buds begin to swell, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And woods the blue-bird's warble know, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The yellow violet's modest bell | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Peeps from the last year's leaves below. | 8 | ········ |
| Ere russet fields their green resume, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Sweet flower, I love, in forest bare, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| To meet thee, when thy faint perfume | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Alone is in the virgin air. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Of all her train, the hands of Spring | 8 | ········ |
| First plant thee in the watery mould, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| And I have seen thee blossoming | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Beside the snow-bank's edges cold. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Thy parent sun, who bade thee view | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Pale skies, and chilling moisture sip, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Has bathed thee in his own bright hue, | 9 | ··˘······ |
| And streaked with jet thy glowing lip. | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| Yet slight thy form, and low thy seat, | 8 | ········ |
| And earthward bent thy gentle eye, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Unapt the passing view to meet, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| When loftier flowers are flaunting nigh. | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘· |
| Oft, in the sunless April day, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thy early smile has stayed my walk; | 9 | ·/˘···˘·· |
| But midst the gorgeous blooms of May, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I passed thee on thy humble stalk. | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| So they, who climb to wealth, forget | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The friends in darker fortunes tried. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I copied them--but I regret | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That I should ape the ways of pride. | 8 | ········ |
| And when again the genial hour | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Awakes the painted tribes of light, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I'll not o'erlook the modest flower | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| That made the woods of April bright. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.