The Crab-Tree
Spring comes anew, and brings each little pledgeThat still, as wont, my childish heart deceives;I stoop again for violets in the hedge,Among the ivy and old withered leaves;And often mark, amid the clumps of sedge,The pooty-shells I gathered when a boy:But cares have claimed me many an evil day,And chilled the relish which I had for joy.Yet when Crab-blossoms blush among the May,As erst in years gone by, I scramble nowUp ’mid the bramble for my old esteems,Filling my hands with many a blooming bough;Till the heart-stirring past as present seems,Save the bright sunshine of those fairy dreams.
Words in this poem
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- chilled a.
- Hardened on the surface or edge by chilling; as, chilled iron; a chilled wheel.
- bramble n.
- Any plant of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. [OE. brembil, AS.brbramal), fr. the same root as E. broom, As. br. See Broom.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Crab-Tree is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #52601; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Clare, The Crab-Tree, in Poems (1820–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #52601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/clare-poems/the-crab-tree.html, id L06690.
Form and metre
The Crab-Tree is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABACDCDEFEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% 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 ABABACDCDEFEFF pledgeA · deceivesB · hedgeA · leavesB · sedgeA · boyC · dayD · joyC · mayD · nowE · esteemsF · boughE · seemsF · dreamsF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spring comes anew, and brings each little pledge | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| That still, as wont, my childish heart deceives; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| I stoop again for violets in the hedge, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Among the ivy and old withered leaves; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And often mark, amid the clumps of sedge, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| The pooty-shells I gathered when a boy: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But cares have claimed me many an evil day, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| And chilled the relish which I had for joy. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yet when Crab-blossoms blush among the May, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As erst in years gone by, I scramble now | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Up ’mid the bramble for my old esteems, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Filling my hands with many a blooming bough; | 10 | /˘···/·/˘· |
| Till the heart-stirring past as present seems, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Save the bright sunshine of those fairy dreams. | 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.