The Catbird
The tufted gold of the sassafras,And the gold of the spicewood-bush,Bewilder the ways of the forest pass,And brighten the underbrush:The white-starred drifts of the wild-plum tree,And the haw with its pearly plumes,And the redbud, misted rosily,Dazzle the woodland glooms.
And I hear the song of the catbird wakeI' the boughs o' the gnarled wild-crab,Or there where the snows of the dogwood shake,That the silvery sunbeams stab:And it seems to me that a magic liesIn the crystal sweet of its notes,That a myriad blossoms open their eyesAs its strain above them floats.
I see the bluebell's blue unclose,And the trillium's stainless white;The birdfoot-violet's purple and rose,And the poppy, golden-bright!And I see the eyes of the bluet wink,And the heads of the white-hearts nod;And the baby mouths of the woodland-pinkAnd sorrel salute the sod.
And this, meseems, does the catbird say,As the blossoms crowd i' the sun:--"Up, up! and out! oh, out and away!Up, up! and out, each one!Sweethearts! sweethearts! oh, sweet, sweet, sweet!Come listen and hark to me!The Spring, the Spring, with her fragrant feet,Is passing this way!--Oh, hark to the beatOf her beelike heart!--Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet!Come! open your eyes and see!See, see, see!"
Words in this poem
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- underbrush n.
- Shrubs, small trees, and the like, in a wood or forest, growing beneath large trees; undergrowth.
- starred a.
- Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled. [From Star.]
- redbud n.
- A small ornamental leguminous tree of the American species of the genus Cercis. See Judas tree, under Judas.
- rosily adv.
- In a rosy manner. M. Arnold.
- dazzle v. t.
- To overpower with light; to confuse the sight of by brilliance of light. [Freq. of daze.]
- gnarled a.
- Knotty; full of knots or gnarls; twisted; crossgrained.
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- stainless a.
- Free from stain; immaculate.
- meseems v.
- It seems to me.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Catbird 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, The Catbird, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-catbird.html, id L10870.
Form and metre
The Catbird is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 A-A--B-B sassafrasA · bush · passA · underbrush · tree · plumesB · rosily · gloomsB
- 2 ABABCDCD wakeA · crabB · shakeA · stabB · liesC · notesD · eyesC · floatsD
- 3 ABABCDCD uncloseA · whiteB · roseA · brightB · winkC · nodD · pinkC · sodD
- 4 ABABCDCCCDD sayA · sunB · awayA · oneB · sweetC · meD · feetC · beatC · sweetC · seeD · seeD
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 tufted gold of the sassafras, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And the gold of the spicewood-bush, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bewilder the ways of the forest pass, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| And brighten the underbrush: | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| The white-starred drifts of the wild-plum tree, | 9 | ········· |
| And the haw with its pearly plumes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the redbud, misted rosily, | 9 | ··/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Dazzle the woodland glooms. | 6 | /˘·/·· |
| And I hear the song of the catbird wake | 10 | ·······/·· |
| I' the boughs o' the gnarled wild-crab, | 8 | ········ |
| Or there where the snows of the dogwood shake, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| That the silvery sunbeams stab: | 8 | ··/˘˘/·· |
| And it seems to me that a magic lies | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In the crystal sweet of its notes, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| That a myriad blossoms open their eyes | 10 | ··/˘/˘/˘·· |
| As its strain above them floats. | 7 | ······· |
| I see the bluebell's blue unclose, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| And the trillium's stainless white; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The birdfoot-violet's purple and rose, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| And the poppy, golden-bright! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And I see the eyes of the bluet wink, | 9 | ········· |
| And the heads of the white-hearts nod; | 8 | ········ |
| And the baby mouths of the woodland-pink | 10 | ··/˘···/·· |
| And sorrel salute the sod. | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| And this, meseems, does the catbird say, | 9 | ··˘/··/·· |
| As the blossoms crowd i' the sun:-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "Up, up! and out! oh, out and away! | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Up, up! and out, each one! | 6 | ······ |
| Sweethearts! sweethearts! oh, sweet, sweet, sweet! | 8 | /·/····· |
| Come listen and hark to me! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The Spring, the Spring, with her fragrant feet, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Is passing this way!--Oh, hark to the beat | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of her beelike heart!--Oh, sweet, sweet, sweet! | 9 | ········· |
| Come! open your eyes and see! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| See, see, see!" | 3 | ··· |
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.