Discovery
What is it now that I shall seekWhere woods dip downward, in the hills?--A mossy nook, a ferny creek,And May among the daffodils.
Or in the valley's vistaed glow,Past rocks of terraced trumpet vines,Shall I behold her coming slow,Sweet May, among the columbines?
With redbud cheeks and bluet eyes,Big eyes, the homes of happiness,To meet me with the old surprise,Her wild-rose hair all bonnetless.
Who waits for me, where, note for note,The birds make glad the forest trees?--A dogwood blossom at her throat,My May among th' anemones.
As sweetheart breezes kiss the blooms,And dews caress the moon's pale beams,My soul shall drink her lips' perfumes,And know the magic of her dreams.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- ferny a.
- Abounding in ferns.
- redbud n.
- A small ornamental leguminous tree of the American species of the genus Cercis. See Judas tree, under Judas.
- bonnetless a.
- Without a bonnet.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Discovery 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, Discovery, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/discovery.html, id L10837.
Form and metre
Discovery is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% 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 ABAB seekA · hillsB · creekA · daffodilsB
- 2 ABAB glowA · vinesB · slowA · columbinesB
- 3 ABAB eyesA · happinessB · surpriseA · bonnetlessB
- 4 A-A- noteA · trees · throatA · anemones
- 5 ABAB bloomsA · beamsB · perfumesA · dreamsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What is it now that I shall seek | 8 | ········ |
| Where woods dip downward, in the hills?-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A mossy nook, a ferny creek, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And May among the daffodils. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or in the valley's vistaed glow, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Past rocks of terraced trumpet vines, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Shall I behold her coming slow, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Sweet May, among the columbines? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With redbud cheeks and bluet eyes, | 7 | ·/····· |
| Big eyes, the homes of happiness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| To meet me with the old surprise, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Her wild-rose hair all bonnetless. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Who waits for me, where, note for note, | 8 | ········ |
| The birds make glad the forest trees?-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A dogwood blossom at her throat, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| My May among th' anemones. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| As sweetheart breezes kiss the blooms, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| And dews caress the moon's pale beams, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| My soul shall drink her lips' perfumes, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And know the magic of her dreams. | 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.