March
Shall Thor with his hammerBeat on the mountain,As on an anvil,A shackle and fetter?
Shall the lame VulcanShout as he swingethGod-like his hammer,And forge thee a fetter?
Shall Jove, the Thunderer,Twine his swift lightningsWith his loud thunders,And forge thee a shackle?
"No," shouts the Titan,The young lion-throated;"Thor, Vulcan, nor JoveCannot shackle and bind me."
Tell what will bind thee,Thou young world-shaker,Up vault our oceans,Down fall our forests.
Ship-masts and pillarsStagger and tremble,Like reeds by the marginsOf swift running waters.
Men's hearts at thy roaringQuiver like harebellsSmitten by hailstones,Smitten and shaken.
"O sages and wise men!O bird-hearted tremblers!Come, I will show yeA shackle to bind me.
I, the lion-throated,The shaker of mountains!I, the invincible,Lasher of oceans!
"Past the horizon,Its ring of pale azurePast the horizon,Where scurry the white clouds,
There are buds and small flowers--Flowers like snow-flakes,Blossoms like rain-drops,So small and tremulous.
Therein a fetterShall shackle and bind me,Shall weigh down my shoutingWith their delicate perfume!"
But who this frail fetterShall forge on an anvil,With hammer of featherAnd anvil of velvet?
Past the horizon,In the palm of a valley,Her feet in the grasses,There is a maiden.
She smiles on the flowers,They widen and redden,She weeps on the flowers,They grow up and kiss her.
She breathes in their bosoms,They breathe back in odours;Inarticulate homage,Dumb adoration.
She shall wreathe them in shackles,Shall weave them in fetters;In chains shall she braid them,And me shall she fetter.
I, the invincible;March, the earth-shaker;March, the sea-lifter;March, the sky-render;
March, the lion-throated.April the weaverOf delicate blossoms,And moulder of red buds--
Shall, at the horizon,Its ring of pale azure,Its scurry of white clouds,Meet in the sunlight.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- thor n.
- The god of thunder, and son of Odin. [Icel. þors. Cf. Thursday.]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- thunderer n.
- One who thunders; -- used especially as a translation of L.
- shaker n.
- A person or thing that shakes, or by means of which something is shaken.
- lasher n.
- One who whips or lashes.
- scurry v. i.
- To hasten away or along; to move rapidly; to hurry; as, the rabbit scurried away. [Cf. Scur, Skirr.]
- moulder n.
- One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
March is in the public domain. This text is taken from Old Spookses' Pass, Malcolm's Katie, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6815; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Isabella Valancy Crawford, March, in Old Spookses' Pass, Malcolm's Katie and Other Poems (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6815, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crawford-poems/march.html, id L11189.
Form and metre
March is 80 lines in 20 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.7 syllables. 61 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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.
- 8 --AA men · tremblers · yeA · meA
- 10 A-A- horizonA · azure · horizonA · clouds
- 15 A-A- flowersA · redden · flowersA · her
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Shall Thor with his hammer | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Beat on the mountain, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| As on an anvil, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| A shackle and fetter? | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Shall the lame Vulcan | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Shout as he swingeth | 5 | ···/˘ |
| God-like his hammer, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And forge thee a fetter? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Shall Jove, the Thunderer, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Twine his swift lightnings | 5 | ···/˘ |
| With his loud thunders, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And forge thee a shackle? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| "No," shouts the Titan, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The young lion-throated; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| "Thor, Vulcan, nor Jove | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Cannot shackle and bind me." | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Tell what will bind thee, | 5 | ····· |
| Thou young world-shaker, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Up vault our oceans, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Down fall our forests. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Ship-masts and pillars | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Stagger and tremble, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Like reeds by the margins | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Of swift running waters. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Men's hearts at thy roaring | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Quiver like harebells | 6 | /˘···· |
| Smitten by hailstones, | 5 | /˘·/· |
| Smitten and shaken. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| "O sages and wise men! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O bird-hearted tremblers! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Come, I will show ye | 5 | ····· |
| A shackle to bind me. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I, the lion-throated, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| The shaker of mountains! | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| I, the invincible, | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Lasher of oceans! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| "Past the horizon, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Its ring of pale azure | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Past the horizon, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Where scurry the white clouds, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There are buds and small flowers-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Flowers like snow-flakes, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Blossoms like rain-drops, | 5 | /˘··· |
| So small and tremulous. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Therein a fetter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Shall shackle and bind me, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Shall weigh down my shouting | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With their delicate perfume!" | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| But who this frail fetter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Shall forge on an anvil, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With hammer of feather | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And anvil of velvet? | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Past the horizon, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| In the palm of a valley, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Her feet in the grasses, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| There is a maiden. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| She smiles on the flowers, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| They widen and redden, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| She weeps on the flowers, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| They grow up and kiss her. | 6 | ······ |
| She breathes in their bosoms, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| They breathe back in odours; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Inarticulate homage, | 7 | ˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Dumb adoration. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| She shall wreathe them in shackles, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Shall weave them in fetters; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| In chains shall she braid them, | 6 | ······ |
| And me shall she fetter. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| I, the invincible; | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| March, the earth-shaker; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| March, the sea-lifter; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| March, the sky-render; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| March, the lion-throated. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| April the weaver | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Of delicate blossoms, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| And moulder of red buds-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Shall, at the horizon, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Its ring of pale azure, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Its scurry of white clouds, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Meet in the sunlight. | 5 | ···/· |
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.