The Tree-Toad
Secluded, solitary on some underbough,Or cradled in a leaf, 'mid glimmering light,Like Puck thou crouchest: Haply watching howThe slow toadstool comes bulging, moony white,Through loosening loam; or how, against the night,The glowworm gathers silver to endowThe darkness with; or how the dew conspiresTo hang, at dusk, with lamps of chilly firesEach blade that shrivels now.
O vague confederate of the whippoorwill,Of owl and cricket and the katydid!Thou gatherest up the silence in one shrillVibrating note and send'st it where, half hidIn cedars, twilight sleeps--each azure lidDrooping a line of golden eyeball still.--Afar, yet near, I hear thy dewy voiceWithin the Garden of the Hours apoiseOn dusk's deep daffodil.
Minstrel of moisture! silent when high noonShows her tanned face among the thirsting cloverAnd parching meadows, thy tenebrious tuneWakes with the dew or when the rain is over.Thou troubadour of wetness and damp loverOf all cool things! admitted comrade boonOf twilight's hush, and little intimateOf eve's first fluttering star and delicateRound rim of rainy moon!
Art trumpeter of Dwarfland? does thy hornInform the gnomes and goblins of the hourWhen they may gambol under haw and thorn,Straddling each winking web and twinkling flower?Or bell-ringer of Elfland? whose tall towerThe liriodendron is? from whence is borneThe elfin music of thy bell's deep bass,To summon Faeries to their starlit maze,To summon them or warn.
Words in this poem 17
- puck n.
- A celebrated fairy, [OE. pouke; cf. OSw. puke, Icel. puki an evil demon, W. pwca a hobgoblin. Cf. Poker a bugbear, Pug.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- toadstool n.
- A name given to many umbrella-shaped fungi, mostly of the genus Agaricus. The species are almost numberless. They grow on decaying organic matter.
- moony a.
- Of or pertaining to the moon.
- glowworm n.
- A coleopterous insect of the genus Lampyris; esp., the wingless females and larvæ of the two European species (L. noctiluca, and L.
- katydid n.
- A large, green, arboreal, orthopterous insect (Cyrtophyllus concavus) of the family Locustidæ, common in the United States. The males have stridulating organs at the bases of the front wings.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- parching a.
- Scorching; burning; drying.
- tenebrious a.
- Tenebrous. Young.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- trumpeter n.
- One who sounds a trumpet.
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
- straddling a.
- Applied to spokes when they are arranged alternately in two circles in the hub. See Straddle, v. i., and Straddle, v. t., 3.
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- elfin a.
- Relating to elves.
- starlit a.
- Lighted by the stars; starlight.
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tree-Toad 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 Tree-Toad, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-tree-toad.html, id L10918.
Form and metre
The Tree-Toad is 36 lines in 4 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.5 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 56% 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 -ABAABCCB underbough · lightA · howB · whiteA · nightA · endowB · conspiresC · firesC · nowB
- 2 ABABBA--A whippoorwillA · katydidB · shrillA · hidB · lidB · stillA · voice · apoise · daffodilA
- 3 ABAB-A--A noonA · cloverB · tuneA · overB · lover · boonA · intimate · delicate · moonA
- 4 ABABBA--A hornA · hourB · thornA · flowerB · towerB · borneA · bass · maze · warnA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Secluded, solitary on some underbough, | 12 | ˘/˘/˘·˘····· |
| Or cradled in a leaf, 'mid glimmering light, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Like Puck thou crouchest: Haply watching how | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| The slow toadstool comes bulging, moony white, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Through loosening loam; or how, against the night, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The glowworm gathers silver to endow | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The darkness with; or how the dew conspires | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| To hang, at dusk, with lamps of chilly fires | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Each blade that shrivels now. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O vague confederate of the whippoorwill, | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Of owl and cricket and the katydid! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thou gatherest up the silence in one shrill | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Vibrating note and send'st it where, half hid | 9 | /˘······· |
| In cedars, twilight sleeps--each azure lid | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Drooping a line of golden eyeball still.-- | 10 | /˘···/˘/·· |
| Afar, yet near, I hear thy dewy voice | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Within the Garden of the Hours apoise | 10 | ···/˘··/˘/ |
| On dusk's deep daffodil. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Minstrel of moisture! silent when high noon | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Shows her tanned face among the thirsting clover | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And parching meadows, thy tenebrious tune | 11 | ·/˘/··˘/˘˘· |
| Wakes with the dew or when the rain is over. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thou troubadour of wetness and damp lover | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Of all cool things! admitted comrade boon | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| Of twilight's hush, and little intimate | 9 | ·/···/˘/˘ |
| Of eve's first fluttering star and delicate | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Round rim of rainy moon! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Art trumpeter of Dwarfland? does thy horn | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Inform the gnomes and goblins of the hour | 10 | ˘/···/˘··/ |
| When they may gambol under haw and thorn, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Straddling each winking web and twinkling flower? | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘/ |
| Or bell-ringer of Elfland? whose tall tower | 10 | ··/˘·/˘··/ |
| The liriodendron is? from whence is borne | 10 | ·········· |
| The elfin music of thy bell's deep bass, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| To summon Faeries to their starlit maze, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| To summon them or warn. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.