"Below the Sunset's Range of Rose"
Below the sunset's range of rose,Below the heaven's deepening blue,Down woodways where the balsam blows,And milkweed tufts hang, gray with dew,A Jersey heifer stops and lows--The cows come home by one, by two.
There is no star yet: but the smellOf hay and pennyroyal mixWith herb aromas of the dell,Where the root-hidden cricket clicks:Among the ironweeds a bellClangs near the rail-fenced clover-ricks.
She waits upon the slope besideThe windlassed well the plum trees shade,The well curb that the goose-plums hide;Her light hand on the bucket laid,Unbonneted she waits, glad-eyed,Her gown as simple as her braid.
She sees fawn-colored backs amongThe sumacs now; a tossing hornIts clashing bell of copper rung:Long shadows lean upon the corn,And slow the day dies, scarlet stung,The cloud in it a rosy thorn.
Below the pleasant moon, that tipsThe tree tops of the hillside, flyThe flitting bats; the twilight slips,In firefly spangles, twinkling by,Through which he comes: Their happy lipsMeet--and one star leaps in the sky.
He takes her bucket, and they speakOf married hopes while in the grassThe plum drops glowing as her cheek;The patient cows look back or pass:And in the west one golden streakBurns as if God gazed through a glass.
Words in this poem
- pennyroyal n.
- An aromatic herb (Mentha Pulegium) of Europe; also, a North American plant (Hedeoma pulegioides) resembling it in flavor. Bastard pennyroyal (Bot.) See Blue curls, under Blue. [A corruption of OE. puliall royal. OE. puliall is ultimately derived fr. L. puleium, or pulegium regium (so called as being good against fleas), fr. pulex a fle]
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- backs n.
- Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- flitting n.
- A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
- firefly n.
- Any luminous winged insect, esp. luminous beetles of the family Lampyridæ.
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"Below the Sunset's Range of Rose" 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, "Below the Sunset's Range of Rose", in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/below-the-sunset-s-range-of-rose.html, id L10874.
Form and metre
"Below the Sunset's Range of Rose" is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 33% 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 ABABAB roseA · blueB · blowsA · dewB · lowsA · twoB
- 2 ABABAB smellA · mixB · dellA · clicksB · bellA · ricksB
- 3 ABABAB besideA · shadeB · hideA · laidB · eyedA · braidB
- 4 ABABAB amongA · hornB · rungA · cornB · stungA · thornB
- 5 ABABAB tipsA · flyB · slipsA · byB · lipsA · skyB
- 6 ABABAB speakA · grassB · cheekA · passB · streakA · glassB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Below the sunset's range of rose, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Below the heaven's deepening blue, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Down woodways where the balsam blows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And milkweed tufts hang, gray with dew, | 8 | ·/······ |
| A Jersey heifer stops and lows-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The cows come home by one, by two. | 8 | ········ |
| There is no star yet: but the smell | 8 | ········ |
| Of hay and pennyroyal mix | 7 | ······· |
| With herb aromas of the dell, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Where the root-hidden cricket clicks: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Among the ironweeds a bell | 8 | ········ |
| Clangs near the rail-fenced clover-ricks. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She waits upon the slope beside | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The windlassed well the plum trees shade, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The well curb that the goose-plums hide; | 8 | ········ |
| Her light hand on the bucket laid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Unbonneted she waits, glad-eyed, | 8 | ········ |
| Her gown as simple as her braid. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She sees fawn-colored backs among | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sumacs now; a tossing horn | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Its clashing bell of copper rung: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Long shadows lean upon the corn, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And slow the day dies, scarlet stung, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The cloud in it a rosy thorn. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Below the pleasant moon, that tips | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The tree tops of the hillside, fly | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The flitting bats; the twilight slips, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| In firefly spangles, twinkling by, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Through which he comes: Their happy lips | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Meet--and one star leaps in the sky. | 8 | ········ |
| He takes her bucket, and they speak | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of married hopes while in the grass | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The plum drops glowing as her cheek; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The patient cows look back or pass: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And in the west one golden streak | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Burns as if God gazed through a glass. | 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.