In May
When you and I in the hills went Maying,You and I in the bright May weather,The birds, that sang on the boughs together,There in the green of the woods, kept sayingAll that my heart was saying low,"I love you! love you!" soft and low,--And did you know?When you and I in the hills went Maying.
There where the brook on its rocks went winking,There by its banks where the May had led us,Flowers, that bloomed in the woods and meadows,Azure and gold at our feet, kept thinkingAll that my soul was thinking there,"I love you! love you!" softly there--And did you care?There where the brook on its rocks went winking.
Whatever befalls through fate's compelling,Should our paths unite or our pathways sever,In the Mays to come I shall feel foreverThe wildflowers thinking, the wild birds telling,In words as soft as the falling dew,The love that I keep here still for you,Both deep and true,Whatever befalls through fate's compelling.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- maying n.
- The celebrating of May Day.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In May 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, In May, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/in-may.html, id L10843.
Form and metre
In May is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBACCCA, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 ABBACCCA mayingA · weatherB · togetherB · sayingA · lowC · lowC · knowC · mayingA
- 2 A--ABBBA winkingA · us · meadows · thinkingA · thereB · thereB · careB · winkingA
- 3 ABBACCCA compellingA · severB · foreverB · tellingA · dewC · youC · trueC · compellingA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When you and I in the hills went Maying, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| You and I in the bright May weather, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The birds, that sang on the boughs together, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| There in the green of the woods, kept saying | 10 | ········/˘ |
| All that my heart was saying low, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "I love you! love you!" soft and low,-- | 8 | ········ |
| And did you know? | 4 | ···· |
| When you and I in the hills went Maying. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| There where the brook on its rocks went winking, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| There by its banks where the May had led us, | 10 | ·········· |
| Flowers, that bloomed in the woods and meadows, | 10 | /˘······/· |
| Azure and gold at our feet, kept thinking | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| All that my soul was thinking there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "I love you! love you!" softly there-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And did you care? | 4 | ···· |
| There where the brook on its rocks went winking. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Whatever befalls through fate's compelling, | 10 | ·/˘˘/··˘/˘ |
| Should our paths unite or our pathways sever, | 11 | ·/·/··//·/˘ |
| In the Mays to come I shall feel forever | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| The wildflowers thinking, the wild birds telling, | 10 | ·/·/˘···/˘ |
| In words as soft as the falling dew, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The love that I keep here still for you, | 9 | ········· |
| Both deep and true, | 4 | ···· |
| Whatever befalls through fate's compelling. | 10 | ·/˘˘/··˘/˘ |
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.