In the Lane
When the hornet hangs in the hollyhock,And the brown bee drones i' the rose;And the west is a red-streaked four-o'clock,And summer is near its close--It's oh, for the gate and the locust lane,And dusk and dew and home again!
When the katydid sings and the cricket cries,And ghosts of the mists ascend;And the evening star is a lamp i' the skies,And summer is near its end--It's oh, for the fence and the leafy lane,And the twilight peace and the tryst again!
When the owlet hoots in the dogwood tree,That leans to the rippling Run;And the wind is a wildwood melody,And summer is almost done--It's oh, for the bridge and the bramble lane,And the fragrant hush and her hands again!
When fields smell sweet with the dewy hay,And woods are cool and wan,And a path for dreams is the Milky Way,And summer is nearly gone--It's oh, for the rock and the woodland lane,And the silence and stars and her lips again!
When the weight of the apples breaks down the boughs,And muskmelons split with sweet;And the moon is a light in Heaven's house,And summer has spent its heat--It's oh, for the lane, the trysting lane,The deep-mooned night and her love again!
Words in this poem
- hollyhock n.
- A species of Althæa (A. rosea), bearing flowers of various colors; -- called also rose mallow. [OE. holihoc; holi holy + hoc mallow, AS. hoc; cf. W. hocys mallows, hocys bendigaid hollyhock, lit., blessed mallow. Prob. so named because brought from the Hol]
- katydid n.
- A large, green, arboreal, orthopterous insect (Cyrtophyllus concavus) of the family Locustidæ, common in the United States. The males have stridulating organs at the bases of the front wings.
- tryst v. i.
- To mutually agree to meet at a certain place.
- owlet n.
- A small owl; especially, the European species (Athene noctua), and the California flammulated owlet (Megascops flammeolus). Owlet moth (Zoöl.), any noctuid moth. [Dim. of owl. Cf. Howlet.]
- wildwood n.
- A wild or unfrequented wood. Also used adjectively; as, wildwood flowers; wildwood echoes. Burns.
- bramble n.
- Any plant of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. [OE. brembil, AS.brbramal), fr. the same root as E. broom, As. br. See Broom.]
- trysting n.
- An appointment; a tryst. Trysting day, an arranged day of meeting or assembling, as of soldiers, friends, and the like.
- mooned a.
- Of or resembling the moon; symbolized by the moon.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Lane 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 the Lane, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/in-the-lane.html, id L10904.
Form and metre
In the Lane is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCC hollyhockA · roseB · o'clockA · closeB · laneC · againC
- 2 ABABCC criesA · ascendB · skiesA · endB · laneC · againC
- 3 -A-ABB tree · runA · melody · doneA · laneB · againB
- 4 A-A-BB hayA · wan · wayA · gone · laneB · againB
- 5 -A-ABB boughs · sweetA · house · heatA · laneB · againB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the hornet hangs in the hollyhock, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| And the brown bee drones i' the rose; | 8 | ········ |
| And the west is a red-streaked four-o'clock, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And summer is near its close-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| It's oh, for the gate and the locust lane, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And dusk and dew and home again! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| When the katydid sings and the cricket cries, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| And ghosts of the mists ascend; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And the evening star is a lamp i' the skies, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| And summer is near its end-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| It's oh, for the fence and the leafy lane, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And the twilight peace and the tryst again! | 10 | ··/·····˘/ |
| When the owlet hoots in the dogwood tree, | 10 | ··/˘···/·· |
| That leans to the rippling Run; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And the wind is a wildwood melody, | 10 | ·····/·/˘˘ |
| And summer is almost done-- | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| It's oh, for the bridge and the bramble lane, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And the fragrant hush and her hands again! | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| When fields smell sweet with the dewy hay, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And woods are cool and wan, | 6 | ······ |
| And a path for dreams is the Milky Way, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And summer is nearly gone-- | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| It's oh, for the rock and the woodland lane, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| And the silence and stars and her lips again! | 11 | ··/˘·····˘/ |
| When the weight of the apples breaks down the boughs, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| And muskmelons split with sweet; | 7 | ·/·˘··· |
| And the moon is a light in Heaven's house, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And summer has spent its heat-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| It's oh, for the lane, the trysting lane, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The deep-mooned night and her love again! | 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.