Noëra
Noëra, when sad FallHas grayed the fallow;Leaf-cramped the wood-brook's brawlIn pool and shallow;When, by the woodside, tallStands sere the mallow.
Noëra, when gray goldAnd golden grayThe crackling hollows foldBy every way,Shall I thy face behold,Dear bit of May?
When webs are cribs for dew,And gossamersStreak by you, silver-blue;When silence stirsOne leaf, of rusty hue,Among the burrs:
Noëra, through the wood,Or through the grain,Come, with the hoiden moodOf wind and rainFresh in thy sunny blood,Sweetheart, again.
Noëra, when the corn,Reaped on the fields,The asters' stars adorn;And purple shieldsOf ironweeds lie tornAmong the wealds:
Noëra, haply then,Thou being with me,Each ruined greenwood glenWill bud and beSpring's with the spring again,The spring in thee.
Thou of the breezy tread;Feet of the breeze:Thou of the sunbeam head;Heart like a bee's:Face like a woodland-bredAnemone's.
Thou to October bringAn April part!Come! make the wild birds sing,The blossoms start!Noëra, with the springWild in thy heart!
Come with our golden year:Come as its gold:With the same laughing, clear,Loved voice of old:In thy cool hair one dearWild marigold.
Words in this poem
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- 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,]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Noëra 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, Noëra, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/no-ra.html, id L10850.
Form and metre
Noëra is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, 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 5.0 syllables. 3 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 trimeter.
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 A-ABAB fallA · fallow · brawlA · shallowB · tallA · mallowB
- 2 ABABAB goldA · grayB · foldA · wayB · beholdA · mayB
- 3 ABABAB dewA · gossamersB · blueA · stirsB · hueA · burrsB
- 4 AB-BAB woodA · grainB · mood · rainB · bloodA · againB
- 5 ABABAB cornA · fieldsB · adornA · shieldsB · tornA · wealdsB
- 6 ABABAB thenA · meB · glenA · beB · againA · theeB
- 7 ABABA- treadA · breezeB · headA · bee'sB · bredA · anemone's
- 8 ABABAB bringA · partB · singA · startB · springA · heartB
- 9 ABABAB yearA · goldB · clearA · oldB · dearA · marigoldB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Noëra, when sad Fall | 5 | /˘··· |
| Has grayed the fallow; | 5 | ···/· |
| Leaf-cramped the wood-brook's brawl | 6 | ······ |
| In pool and shallow; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| When, by the woodside, tall | 6 | ···/·· |
| Stands sere the mallow. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Noëra, when gray gold | 5 | /˘··· |
| And golden gray | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The crackling hollows fold | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| By every way, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Shall I thy face behold, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Dear bit of May? | 4 | ···· |
| When webs are cribs for dew, | 6 | ······ |
| And gossamers | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Streak by you, silver-blue; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When silence stirs | 4 | ·/˘· |
| One leaf, of rusty hue, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Among the burrs: | 4 | ···· |
| Noëra, through the wood, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Or through the grain, | 4 | ···· |
| Come, with the hoiden mood | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of wind and rain | 4 | ···· |
| Fresh in thy sunny blood, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sweetheart, again. | 4 | /·˘/ |
| Noëra, when the corn, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Reaped on the fields, | 4 | ···· |
| The asters' stars adorn; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And purple shields | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of ironweeds lie torn | 6 | ······ |
| Among the wealds: | 4 | ···· |
| Noëra, haply then, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Thou being with me, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Each ruined greenwood glen | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| Will bud and be | 4 | ···· |
| Spring's with the spring again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The spring in thee. | 4 | ···· |
| Thou of the breezy tread; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Feet of the breeze: | 4 | ···· |
| Thou of the sunbeam head; | 6 | ···/·· |
| Heart like a bee's: | 4 | ···· |
| Face like a woodland-bred | 6 | ···/·· |
| Anemone's. | 3 | /˘· |
| Thou to October bring | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| An April part! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Come! make the wild birds sing, | 6 | ······ |
| The blossoms start! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Noëra, with the spring | 5 | /˘··· |
| Wild in thy heart! | 4 | ···· |
| Come with our golden year: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Come as its gold: | 4 | ···· |
| With the same laughing, clear, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Loved voice of old: | 4 | ···· |
| In thy cool hair one dear | 6 | ······ |
| Wild marigold. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.