Womanhood
The summer takes its hueFrom something opulent as fair in her,And the bright heaven is brighter than it was;Brighter and lovelier,Arching its beautiful blue,Serene and soft, as her sweet gaze, o'er us.
The springtime takes its moodsFrom something in her made of smiles and tears,And flowery earth is flowerier than before,And happier, it appears,Adding new multitudesTo flowers, like thoughts, that haunt us evermore.
Summer and spring are wedIn her--her nature; and the glamour ofTheir loveliness, their bounty, as it were,Of life and joy and love,Her being seems to shed,--The magic aura of the heart of her.
Words in this poem
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- glamour n.
- A charm affecting the eye, making objects appear different from what they really are. [Scot. glamour, glamer; cf. Icel. glámeggdr one who is troubled with the glaucoma; or Icel. glam-s weakness of sight, glamour; glamr name of the moon, also of a ]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- aura n.
- Any subtile, invisible emanation, effluvium, or exhalation from a substance, as the aroma of flowers, the odor of the blood, a supposed fertilizing emanation from the pollen of flowers, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Womanhood 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, Womanhood, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/womanhood.html, id L10848.
Form and metre
Womanhood is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCBAC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, 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 8.1 syllables. 28% 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---A- hueA · her · was · lovelier · blueA · us
- 2 ABCBAC moodsA · tearsB · beforeC · appearsB · multitudesA · evermoreC
- 3 ABCBAC wedA · ofB · wereC · loveB · shedA · herC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The summer takes its hue | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| From something opulent as fair in her, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| And the bright heaven is brighter than it was; | 9 | ···/·/··· |
| Brighter and lovelier, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Arching its beautiful blue, | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| Serene and soft, as her sweet gaze, o'er us. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| The springtime takes its moods | 6 | ·/···· |
| From something in her made of smiles and tears, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And flowery earth is flowerier than before, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And happier, it appears, | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| Adding new multitudes | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| To flowers, like thoughts, that haunt us evermore. | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Summer and spring are wed | 6 | /˘···· |
| In her--her nature; and the glamour of | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Their loveliness, their bounty, as it were, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Of life and joy and love, | 6 | ······ |
| Her being seems to shed,-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The magic aura of the heart of her. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
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.