Music of Summer
Thou sit'st among the sunny silencesOf terraced hills and woodland galleries,Thou utterance of all calm melodies,Thou lutanist of Earth's most affluent lute,--Where no false note intrudesTo mar the silent music,--branch and root,--Charming the fields ripe, orchards and deep woods,To song similitudesOf flower and seed and fruit.
Oft have I seen thee, in some sensuous air,Bewitch the broad wheat-acres everywhereTo imitated gold of thy deep hair:The peach, by thy red lips' delicious trouble,Blown into gradual dyesOf crimson; and beheld thy magic double--Dark-blue with fervid influence of thine eyes--The grapes' rotundities,Bubble by purple bubble.
Deliberate uttered into life intense,Out of thy soul's melodious eloquenceBeauty evolves its just preëminence:The lily, from some pensive-smitten chordDrawing significanceOf purity, a visible hush stands: starredWith splendor, from thy passionate utterance,The rose writes its romanceIn blushing word on word.
As star by star Day harps in Evening,The inspiration of all things that singIs in thy hands and from their touch takes wing:All brooks, all birds,--whom song can never sate,--The leaves, the wind and rain,Green frogs and insects, singing soon and late,Thy sympathies inspire, thy heart's refrain,Whose sounds invigorateWith rest life's weary brain.
And as the Night, like some mysterious rune,Its beauty makes emphatic with the moon,Thou lutest us no immaterial tune:But where dim whispers haunt the cane and corn,By thy still strain made strong,Earth's awful avatar,--in whom is bornThy own deep music,--labors all night longWith growth, assuring MornAssumes with onward song.
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- lutanist n.
- A person that plays on the lute. Johnson. [LL.lutanista, fr. lutana lute. See Lute the instrument.]
- affluent a.
- Flowing to; flowing abundantly. [Cf. F. affluent, L. affluens, -entis, p. pr. See Affluence.]
- sensuous a.
- Of or pertaining to the senses, or sensible objects; addressing the senses; suggesting pictures or images of sense.
- fervid a.
- Very hot; burning; boiling. [L. fervidus, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- starred a.
- Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled. [From Star.]
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- rune n.
- A letter, or character, belonging to the written language of the ancient Norsemen, or Scandinavians; in a wider sense, applied to the letters of the ancient nations of Northern Europe in general. [AS. run a rune, a secret, a mystery; akin to Icel. run, OHG. & Goth. runa a secret, secret colloquy, G. & Dan. rune rune, and probably to Gr. 'ereyna^n to searc]
- avatar n.
- The descent of a deity to earth, and his incarnation as a man or an animal; -- chiefly associated with the incarnations of Vishnu. [Skr. avatâra descent; ava from + root t to cross, pass over.]
- assuring a.
- That assures; tending to assure; giving confidence.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Music of Summer 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, Music of Summer, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/music-of-summer.html, id L10875.
Form and metre
Music of Summer is 45 lines in 5 stanzas of 9 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AAABCBCBC, 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 84%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ---ABA-BA silences · galleries · melodies · luteA · intrudesB · rootA · woods · similitudesB · fruitA
- 2 AAABCBC-B airA · everywhereA · hairA · troubleB · dyesC · doubleB · eyesC · rotundities · bubbleB
- 3 AA--A--A- intenseA · eloquenceA · preëminence · chord · significanceA · starred · utterance · romanceA · word
- 4 AAABCBCBC eveningA · singA · wingA · sateB · rainC · lateB · refrainC · invigorateB · brainC
- 5 AAABCBCBC runeA · moonA · tuneA · cornB · strongC · bornB · longC · mornB · songC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou sit'st among the sunny silences | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Of terraced hills and woodland galleries, | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| Thou utterance of all calm melodies, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| Thou lutanist of Earth's most affluent lute,-- | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Where no false note intrudes | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To mar the silent music,--branch and root,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Charming the fields ripe, orchards and deep woods, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| To song similitudes | 6 | ······ |
| Of flower and seed and fruit. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Oft have I seen thee, in some sensuous air, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bewitch the broad wheat-acres everywhere | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| To imitated gold of thy deep hair: | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| The peach, by thy red lips' delicious trouble, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Blown into gradual dyes | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Of crimson; and beheld thy magic double-- | 11 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Dark-blue with fervid influence of thine eyes-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The grapes' rotundities, | 5 | ····· |
| Bubble by purple bubble. | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Deliberate uttered into life intense, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Out of thy soul's melodious eloquence | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Beauty evolves its just preëminence: | 9 | /˘˘/····· |
| The lily, from some pensive-smitten chord | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Drawing significance | 6 | /˘˘/˘˘ |
| Of purity, a visible hush stands: starred | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| With splendor, from thy passionate utterance, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The rose writes its romance | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In blushing word on word. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As star by star Day harps in Evening, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The inspiration of all things that sing | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Is in thy hands and from their touch takes wing: | 10 | ·········· |
| All brooks, all birds,--whom song can never sate,-- | 9 | ·······/· |
| The leaves, the wind and rain, | 6 | ······ |
| Green frogs and insects, singing soon and late, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Thy sympathies inspire, thy heart's refrain, | 9 | ·/˘˘/··˘/ |
| Whose sounds invigorate | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| With rest life's weary brain. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And as the Night, like some mysterious rune, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Its beauty makes emphatic with the moon, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Thou lutest us no immaterial tune: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| But where dim whispers haunt the cane and corn, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| By thy still strain made strong, | 6 | ······ |
| Earth's awful avatar,--in whom is born | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Thy own deep music,--labors all night long | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| With growth, assuring Morn | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Assumes with onward song. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
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