May
The golden discs of the rattlesnake-weed,That spangle the woods and dance--No gleam of gold that the twilights holdIs strong as their necromance:For, under the oaks where the woodpaths lead,The golden discs of the rattlesnake-weedAre the May's own utterance.
The azure stars of the bluet bloom,That sprinkle the woodland's trance--No blink of blue that a cloud lets throughIs sweet as their countenance:For, over the knolls that the woods perfume,The azure stars of the bluet bloomAre the light of the May's own glance.
With her wondering words and her looks she comes,In a sunbeam of a gown;She needs but think and the blossoms wink,But look, and they shower down.By orchard ways, where the wild bee hums,With her wondering words and her looks she comesLike a little maid to town.
Words in this poem
- spangle n.
- A small plate or boss of shining metal; something brilliant used as an ornament, especially when stitched on the dress. [OE. spangel, dim. of AS. spange. See Spang a spangle.]
- blink v. i.
- To wink; to twinkle with, or as with, the eye. [OE. blenken; akin to dan. blinke, Sw. blinka, G. blinken to shine, glance, wink, twinkle, D. blinken to shine; and prob. to D. blikken to glance, twinkle, G. bl]
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
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, May, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/may.html, id L10859.
Form and metre
May is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AB-BAAB weedA · danceB · hold · necromanceB · leadA · weedA · utteranceB
- 2 AB-BAAB bloomA · tranceB · through · countenanceB · perfumeA · bloomA · glanceB
- 3 AB-BAAB comesA · gownB · wink · downB · humsA · comesA · townB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The golden discs of the rattlesnake-weed, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| That spangle the woods and dance-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| No gleam of gold that the twilights hold | 9 | ······/·· |
| Is strong as their necromance: | 7 | ······· |
| For, under the oaks where the woodpaths lead, | 10 | ·········· |
| The golden discs of the rattlesnake-weed | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Are the May's own utterance. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| The azure stars of the bluet bloom, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That sprinkle the woodland's trance-- | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| No blink of blue that a cloud lets through | 9 | ········· |
| Is sweet as their countenance: | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| For, over the knolls that the woods perfume, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| The azure stars of the bluet bloom | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are the light of the May's own glance. | 8 | ········ |
| With her wondering words and her looks she comes, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| In a sunbeam of a gown; | 7 | ··/···· |
| She needs but think and the blossoms wink, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But look, and they shower down. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By orchard ways, where the wild bee hums, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| With her wondering words and her looks she comes | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Like a little maid to town. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.