A Woodland Grave
White moons may come, white moons may go--She sleeps where early blossoms blow;Knows nothing of the leafy June,That leans above her night and noon,Crowned now with sunbeam, now with moon,Watching her roses grow.
The downy moth at twilight comesAnd flutters round their honeyed blooms:Long, lazy clouds, like ivory,That isle the blue lagoons of sky,Redden to molten gold and dyeWith flame the pine-deep glooms.
Dew, dripping from wet fern and leaf;The wind, that shakes the violet's sheaf;The slender sound of water lone,That makes a harp-string of some stone,And now a wood bird's glimmering moan,Seem whisperings there of grief.
Her garden, where the lilacs grew,Where, on old walls, old roses blew,Head-heavy with their mellow musk,Where, when the beetle's drone was husk,She lingered in the dying dusk,No more shall know that knew.
Her orchard,--where the Spring and sheStood listening to each bird and bee,--That, from its fragrant firmament,Snowed blossoms on her as she went,(A blossom with their blossoms blent)No more her face shall see.
White moons may come, white moons may go--She sleeps where early blossoms blow:Around her headstone many a seedShall sow itself; and brier and weedShall grow to hide it from men's heed,And none will care or know.
Words in this poem
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- honeyed a.
- Covered with honey.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- headstone n.
- The principal stone in a foundation; the chief or corner stone.
- brier n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Woodland Grave is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, A Woodland Grave, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/a-woodland-grave.html, id L10871.
Form and metre
A Woodland Grave is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBBA, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 AABBBA goA · blowA · juneB · noonB · moonB · growA
- 2 -A-BBA comes · bloomsA · ivory · skyB · dyeB · gloomsA
- 3 AABBBA leafA · sheafA · loneB · stoneB · moanB · griefA
- 4 AABBBA grewA · blewA · muskB · huskB · duskB · knewA
- 5 AABBBA sheA · beeA · firmamentB · wentB · blentB · seeA
- 6 AABBBA goA · blowA · seedB · weedB · heedB · knowA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| White moons may come, white moons may go-- | 8 | ········ |
| She sleeps where early blossoms blow; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Knows nothing of the leafy June, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That leans above her night and noon, | 8 | ········ |
| Crowned now with sunbeam, now with moon, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Watching her roses grow. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The downy moth at twilight comes | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| And flutters round their honeyed blooms: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Long, lazy clouds, like ivory, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| That isle the blue lagoons of sky, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Redden to molten gold and dye | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| With flame the pine-deep glooms. | 6 | ······ |
| Dew, dripping from wet fern and leaf; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The wind, that shakes the violet's sheaf; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The slender sound of water lone, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That makes a harp-string of some stone, | 8 | ········ |
| And now a wood bird's glimmering moan, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Seem whisperings there of grief. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Her garden, where the lilacs grew, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Where, on old walls, old roses blew, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Head-heavy with their mellow musk, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where, when the beetle's drone was husk, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She lingered in the dying dusk, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No more shall know that knew. | 6 | ······ |
| Her orchard,--where the Spring and she | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Stood listening to each bird and bee,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That, from its fragrant firmament, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Snowed blossoms on her as she went, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (A blossom with their blossoms blent) | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No more her face shall see. | 6 | ······ |
| White moons may come, white moons may go-- | 8 | ········ |
| She sleeps where early blossoms blow: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Around her headstone many a seed | 8 | ···/·/·· |
| Shall sow itself; and brier and weed | 8 | ··˘/·/·· |
| Shall grow to hide it from men's heed, | 8 | ········ |
| And none will care or know. | 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.