Winter
Old January, clad in crispy rime,Comes limping on, and often makes a stand;The hasty snow-storm ne’er disturbs his time,He mends no pace, but beats his dithering hand.And February, like a timid maid,Smiling and sorrowing follows in his train;Huddled in cloak, of miry roads afraid,She hastens on to meet her home again.Then March, the prophetess, by storms inspired,Gazes in rapture on the troubled sky,And now in headlong fury madly fired,She bids the hail-storm boil and hurry by.Yet ’neath the blackest cloud, a Sunbeam flingsIts cheering promise of returning Springs.
Words in this poem
- january n.
- The first month of the year, containing thirty-one days. [L. Januarius, fr. Janus an old Latin deity, the god of the sun and the year, to whom the month of January was sacred; cf. janua a door, Skr. ya to go.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- crispy a.
- Formed into short, close ringlets; frizzed; crisp; as, crispy locks.
- rime n.
- A rent or long aperture; a chink; a fissure; a crack. Sir T. [L. rima.]
- prophetess n.
- A female prophet. [Cf. F. prophétesse, L. prophetissa.]
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Winter 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, Winter, in Poems (1820–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #52601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/clare-poems/winter.html, id L06691.
Form and metre
Winter is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG rimeA · standB · timeA · handB · maidC · trainD · afraidC · againD · inspiredE · skyF · firedE · byF · flingsG · springsG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Old January, clad in crispy rime, | 10 | ·/˘·˘··/˘· |
| Comes limping on, and often makes a stand; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The hasty snow-storm ne’er disturbs his time, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| He mends no pace, but beats his dithering hand. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And February, like a timid maid, | 10 | ·/˘·˘··/˘· |
| Smiling and sorrowing follows in his train; | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Huddled in cloak, of miry roads afraid, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| She hastens on to meet her home again. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Then March, the prophetess, by storms inspired, | 11 | ···/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Gazes in rapture on the troubled sky, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And now in headlong fury madly fired, | 11 | ···/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| She bids the hail-storm boil and hurry by. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet ’neath the blackest cloud, a Sunbeam flings | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Its cheering promise of returning Springs. | 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.