Apples Growing
Underneath an apple-treeSat a dame of comely seeming,With her work upon her knee,And her great eyes idly dreaming.O'er the harvest-acres bright,Came her husband's din of reaping;Near to her, an infant wightThrough the tangled grass was creeping.
On the branches long and high,And the great green apples growing,Rested she her wandering eye,With a retrospective knowing."This," she said, "the shelter is,Where, when gay and raven-headed,I consented to be his,And our willing hearts were wedded.
"Laughing words and peals of mirth,Long are changed to grave endeavor;Sorrow's winds have swept to earthMany a blossomed hope forever.Thunder-heads have hovered o'er--Storms my path have chilled and shaded;Of the bloom my gay youth bore,Some has fruited--more has faded."
Quickly, and amid her sighs,Through the grass her baby wrestled,Smiled on her its father's eyes,And unto her bosom nestled.And with sudden, joyous glee,Half the wife's and half the mother's,"Still the best is left," said she:"I have learned to live for others."
Words in this poem
- 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]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- chilled a.
- Hardened on the surface or edge by chilling; as, chilled iron; a chilled wheel.
- 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]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Apples Growing is in the public domain. This text is taken from Farm Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #9500; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Will Carleton, Apples Growing, in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/apples-growing.html, id L23284.
Form and metre
Apples Growing is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCDCD treeA · seemingB · kneeA · dreamingB · brightC · reapingD · wightC · creepingD
- 2 ABABCDCD highA · growingB · eyeA · knowingB · isC · headedD · hisC · weddedD
- 3 ABAB-C-C mirthA · endeavorB · earthA · foreverB · o'er · shadedC · bore · fadedC
- 4 ABABCDCD sighsA · wrestledB · eyesA · nestledB · gleeC · mother'sD · sheC · othersD
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Underneath an apple-tree | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Sat a dame of comely seeming, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| With her work upon her knee, | 7 | ······· |
| And her great eyes idly dreaming. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| O'er the harvest-acres bright, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Came her husband's din of reaping; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Near to her, an infant wight | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Through the tangled grass was creeping. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| On the branches long and high, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the great green apples growing, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Rested she her wandering eye, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| With a retrospective knowing. | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| "This," she said, "the shelter is, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where, when gay and raven-headed, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| I consented to be his, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And our willing hearts were wedded. | 8 | ·//˘··/˘ |
| "Laughing words and peals of mirth, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Long are changed to grave endeavor; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Sorrow's winds have swept to earth | 7 | /˘····· |
| Many a blossomed hope forever. | 8 | /·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Thunder-heads have hovered o'er-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Storms my path have chilled and shaded; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Of the bloom my gay youth bore, | 7 | ······· |
| Some has fruited--more has faded." | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Quickly, and amid her sighs, | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Through the grass her baby wrestled, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Smiled on her its father's eyes, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And unto her bosom nestled. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And with sudden, joyous glee, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Half the wife's and half the mother's, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| "Still the best is left," said she: | 7 | ······· |
| "I have learned to live for others." | 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.