The Soul of April
Over the wintry thresholdWho comes with joy to-day,So frail, yet so enduring,To triumph o'er dismay?
Ah, quick her tears are springing,And quickly they are dried,For sorrow walks before her,But gladness walks beside.
She comes with gusts of laughter,--The music as of rills;With tenderness and sweetness,--The wisdom of the hills.
Her hands are strong to comfort,Her heart is quick to heed.She knows the signs of sadness,She knows the voice of need.
There is no living creature,However poor or small,But she will know its trouble,And hasten to its call.
Oh, well they fare forever,By mighty dreams possessed,Whose hearts have lain a momentOn that eternal breast.
Words in this poem
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Soul of April 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 Soul of April, in Later Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33417, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-later-poems/the-soul-of-april.html, id L11010.
Form and metre
The Soul of April is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% 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 threshold · dayA · enduring · dismayA
- 2 -A-A springing · driedA · her · besideA
- 3 -A-A laughter · rillsA · sweetness · hillsA
- 4 -A-A comfort · heedA · sadness · needA
- 5 -AAA creature · smallA · troubleA · callA
- 6 -A-A forever · possessedA · moment · breastA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Over the wintry threshold | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| Who comes with joy to-day, | 6 | ······ |
| So frail, yet so enduring, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| To triumph o'er dismay? | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Ah, quick her tears are springing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And quickly they are dried, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For sorrow walks before her, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But gladness walks beside. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| She comes with gusts of laughter,-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The music as of rills; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With tenderness and sweetness,-- | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| The wisdom of the hills. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Her hands are strong to comfort, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Her heart is quick to heed. | 6 | ······ |
| She knows the signs of sadness, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| She knows the voice of need. | 6 | ······ |
| There is no living creature, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| However poor or small, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But she will know its trouble, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And hasten to its call. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Oh, well they fare forever, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| By mighty dreams possessed, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Whose hearts have lain a moment | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| On that eternal breast. | 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.