An Easter Market
Today, through your Easter marketIn the lazy Southern sun,I strolled with hands in pocketsPast the flower-stalls one by one.
Indolent, dreamy, readyFor anything to amuse,Shyfoot out for a rambleIn his oldest hat and shoes.
Roses creamy and yellow,Azaleas crimson and white,And the flaky fresh carnationsMy Orient of delight,--
Masses and banks of blossomThat dazzle and summon the eye,Till the buyers are half bewilderedTo know what they want. Not I.
Who would not rather be artistAnd slip through the crowd unseenTo gather it all in a pictureAnd guess what the faces mean?
So down through the chaffering darkiesI pass to the sidewalk's end,Through the smiling gingham bonnetsWith their small farm-stuff to vend.
When, hello! my dreamer, suddenAs call at the dead of night,What sets your pulses a-quiver,What sets your fancy alight?
Sure of it! Mayflowers, mayflowers,Scent of the North in spring!Out in the vernal distance,Heart of me, whither a-wing?
"Give me some!" Clutch the first handful,Hungering rover of earth!How I devour and kiss them,Beauties that brought me to birth,
Away in the great north country,The land of the lonely sun,Where God has few for his fellows,And the wolves of the snowdrift run.
Once more to the frost-bound valleyComes April with rain in her jar;I can hear the vesper sparrowUnder the silver star.
And many and dear and graciousAre the dreams that walk at my sideFrom the land of the lingering shadows,As out of the throng I stride.
Oh, well for you, mere onlooker,Who drift through the world's great mart!But we of the human sorrowHave a joy beyond your art.
Words in this poem 17
- indolent a.
- Free from toil, pain, or trouble. [Pref. in- not + L. dolens, -entis, p. pr. of dolere to feel pain: cf. F. indolent. See Dolorous.]
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- amuse v. t.
- To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder. [F. amuser to make stay, to detain, to amuse, ad) + OF. muser. See Muse, v.]
- creamy a.
- Full of, or containing, cream; resembling cream, in nature, appearance, or taste; creamlike; unctuous.
- flaky a.
- Consisting of flakes or of small, loose masses; lying, or cleaving off, in flakes or layers; flakelike.
- dazzle v. t.
- To overpower with light; to confuse the sight of by brilliance of light. [Freq. of daze.]
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- gingham n.
- A kind of cotton or linen cloth, usually in stripes or checks, the yarn of which is dyed before it is woven; -- distinguished from printed cotton or prints. [F. guingan; cf. Jav. ginggang; or perh. fr. Guingamp, in France.]
- dreamer n.
- One who dreams.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- rover n.
- One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
- snowdrift n.
- A bank of drifted snow.
- vesper n.
- The evening star; Hesper; Venus, when seen after sunset; hence, the evening. [L., the evening, the evening star, the west; akin to Gr. west. Cf. Hesperian, Vespers.]
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
- mart v. t.
- To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Easter Market is in the public domain. This text is taken from More Songs From Vagabondia, Project Gutenberg ebook #18007; 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, An Easter Market, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/an-easter-market.html, id L24690.
Form and metre
An Easter Market is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 -A-A market · sunA · pockets · oneA
- 2 -A-A ready · amuseA · ramble · shoesA
- 3 -A-A yellow · whiteA · carnations · delightA
- 4 -A-A blossom · eyeA · bewildered · iA
- 5 -A-A artist · unseenA · picture · meanA
- 6 -A-A darkies · endA · bonnets · vendA
- 7 -A-A sudden · nightA · quiver · alightA
- 8 -A-A mayflowers · springA · distance · wingA
- 9 -A-A handful · earthA · them · birthA
- 10 -A-A country · sunA · fellows · runA
- 11 -A-A valley · jarA · sparrow · starA
- 12 -A-A gracious · sideA · shadows · strideA
- 13 -A-A onlooker · martA · sorrow · artA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Today, through your Easter market | 8 | ˘/··/˘/˘ |
| In the lazy Southern sun, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| I strolled with hands in pockets | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| Past the flower-stalls one by one. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Indolent, dreamy, ready | 7 | /˘˘/˘/˘ |
| For anything to amuse, | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| Shyfoot out for a ramble | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In his oldest hat and shoes. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Roses creamy and yellow, | 7 | /˘/˘·/˘ |
| Azaleas crimson and white, | 7 | ˘/˘/˘·· |
| And the flaky fresh carnations | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| My Orient of delight,-- | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| Masses and banks of blossom | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| That dazzle and summon the eye, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Till the buyers are half bewildered | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| To know what they want. Not I. | 7 | ······· |
| Who would not rather be artist | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| And slip through the crowd unseen | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To gather it all in a picture | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And guess what the faces mean? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| So down through the chaffering darkies | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| I pass to the sidewalk's end, | 7 | ····/·· |
| Through the smiling gingham bonnets | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| With their small farm-stuff to vend. | 7 | ······· |
| When, hello! my dreamer, sudden | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| As call at the dead of night, | 7 | ······· |
| What sets your pulses a-quiver, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| What sets your fancy alight? | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Sure of it! Mayflowers, mayflowers, | 9 | ···/·˘/·˘ |
| Scent of the North in spring! | 6 | ······ |
| Out in the vernal distance, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Heart of me, whither a-wing? | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "Give me some!" Clutch the first handful, | 8 | ······/· |
| Hungering rover of earth! | 7 | /˘˘/˘·· |
| How I devour and kiss them, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Beauties that brought me to birth, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Away in the great north country, | 8 | ˘/····/˘ |
| The land of the lonely sun, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where God has few for his fellows, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And the wolves of the snowdrift run. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Once more to the frost-bound valley | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Comes April with rain in her jar; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I can hear the vesper sparrow | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Under the silver star. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And many and dear and gracious | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Are the dreams that walk at my side | 8 | ········ |
| From the land of the lingering shadows, | 9 | ·····/˘/· |
| As out of the throng I stride. | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, well for you, mere onlooker, | 8 | ·····/·˘ |
| Who drift through the world's great mart! | 7 | ······· |
| But we of the human sorrow | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Have a joy beyond your art. | 7 | ······· |
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