The Deserted Pasture
I love the stony pastureThat no one else will have.The old gray rocks so friendly seem,So durable and brave.
In tranquil contemplationIt watches through the year.Seeing the frosty stars arise,The slender moons appear.
Its music is the rain-wind,Its choristers the birds,And there are secrets in its heartToo wonderful for words.
It keeps the bright-eyed creaturesThat play about its walls,Though long ago its milking herdsWere banished from their stalls.
Only the children come there,For buttercups in May,Or nuts in autumn, where it liesDreaming the hours away.
Long since its strength was givenTo making good increase,And now its soul is turned againTo beauty and to peace.
There in the early springtimeThe violets are blue,And adder-tongues in coats of goldAre garmented anew.
There bayberry and asterAre crowded on its floors,When marching summer halts to praiseThe Lord of Out-of-doors.
And there October passesIn gorgeous livery,--In purple ash, and crimson oak,And golden tulip tree.
And when the winds of winterTheir bugle blasts begin,The snowy hosts of heaven arriveAnd pitch their tents therein.
Words in this poem
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- garmented p. a.
- Having on a garment; attired; enveloped, as with a garment.
- 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.]
- tulip n.
- Any plant of the liliaceous genus Tulipa. Many varieties are cultivated for their beautiful, often variegated flowers. Tulip tree. [F. tulipe, OF. also tulipan, It. tulipano, tulipa, from Turk. tulbend, dulbend, literally, a turban, Per. dulband; -- so called from the resemblance of the form]
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Deserted Pasture is in the public domain. This text is taken from Later Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #33417; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bliss Carman, The Deserted Pasture, in Later Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33417, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-later-poems/the-deserted-pasture.html, id L11063.
Form and metre
The Deserted Pasture is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 pasture · haveA · seem · braveA
- 2 -A-A contemplation · yearA · arise · appearA
- 3 -A-A wind · birdsA · heart · wordsA
- 4 -A-A creatures · wallsA · herds · stallsA
- 5 -A-A there · mayA · lies · awayA
- 6 ABAB givenA · increaseB · againA · peaceB
- 7 -A-A springtime · blueA · gold · anewA
- 8 -A-A aster · floorsA · praise · doorsA
- 10 -A-A winter · beginA · arrive · thereinA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I love the stony pasture | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That no one else will have. | 6 | ······ |
| The old gray rocks so friendly seem, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So durable and brave. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| In tranquil contemplation | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| It watches through the year. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Seeing the frosty stars arise, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| The slender moons appear. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Its music is the rain-wind, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Its choristers the birds, | 6 | ······ |
| And there are secrets in its heart | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Too wonderful for words. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| It keeps the bright-eyed creatures | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That play about its walls, | 6 | ······ |
| Though long ago its milking herds | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Were banished from their stalls. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Only the children come there, | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| For buttercups in May, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or nuts in autumn, where it lies | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Dreaming the hours away. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| Long since its strength was given | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To making good increase, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And now its soul is turned again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To beauty and to peace. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There in the early springtime | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| The violets are blue, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| And adder-tongues in coats of gold | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are garmented anew. | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| There bayberry and aster | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Are crowded on its floors, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When marching summer halts to praise | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The Lord of Out-of-doors. | 6 | ······ |
| And there October passes | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| In gorgeous livery,-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| In purple ash, and crimson oak, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And golden tulip tree. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And when the winds of winter | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Their bugle blasts begin, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The snowy hosts of heaven arrive | 8 | ·/˘··/˘/ |
| And pitch their tents therein. | 6 | ······ |
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.