Since Then
I found myself among the treesWhat time the reapers ceased to reap;And in the sunflower-blooms the beesHuddled brown heads and went to sleep,Rocked by the balsam-breathing breeze.
I saw the red fox leave his lair,A shaggy shadow, on the knoll;And tunneling his thoroughfareBeneath the soil, I watched the mole--Stealth's own self could not take more care.
I heard the death-moth tick and stir,Slow-honeycombing through the bark;I heard the cricket's drowsy chirr,And one lone beetle burr the dark--The sleeping woodland seemed to purr.
And then the moon rose: and one whiteLow bough of blossoms--grown almostWhere, ere you died, 'twas our delightTo meet,--dear heart!--I thought your ghost....The wood is haunted since that night.
Words in this poem
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- thoroughfare n.
- A passage through; a passage from one street or opening to another; an unobstructed way open to the public; a public road; hence, a frequented street. [AS. þurhfaru.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- purr v. i.
- To murmur as a cat. See Pur.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Since Then 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, Since Then, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/since-then.html, id L10895.
Form and metre
Since Then is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 30% 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 ABABA treesA · reapB · beesA · sleepB · breezeA
- 2 ABABA lairA · knollB · thoroughfareA · moleB · careA
- 3 ABABA stirA · barkB · chirrA · darkB · purrA
- 4 ABABA whiteA · almostB · delightA · ghostB · nightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I found myself among the trees | 8 | ···/···· |
| What time the reapers ceased to reap; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in the sunflower-blooms the bees | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Huddled brown heads and went to sleep, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Rocked by the balsam-breathing breeze. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I saw the red fox leave his lair, | 8 | ········ |
| A shaggy shadow, on the knoll; | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| And tunneling his thoroughfare | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Beneath the soil, I watched the mole-- | 8 | ········ |
| Stealth's own self could not take more care. | 8 | ········ |
| I heard the death-moth tick and stir, | 8 | ········ |
| Slow-honeycombing through the bark; | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| I heard the cricket's drowsy chirr, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And one lone beetle burr the dark-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sleeping woodland seemed to purr. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| And then the moon rose: and one white | 8 | ········ |
| Low bough of blossoms--grown almost | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Where, ere you died, 'twas our delight | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| To meet,--dear heart!--I thought your ghost.... | 8 | ········ |
| The wood is haunted since that night. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.