The Truants
Ere my heart beats too coldly and faintlyTo remember sad things, yet be gay,I would sing a brief song of the world's little childrenMagic hath stolen away.
The primroses scattered by April,The stars of the wide Milky Way,Cannot outnumber the hosts of the childrenMagic hath stolen away.
The buttercup green of the meadows,The snow of the blossoming may,Lovelier are not than the legions of childrenMagic hath stolen away.
The waves tossing surf in the moonbeam,The albatross lone on the spray,Alone know the tears wept in vain for the childrenMagic hath stolen away.
In vain: for at hush of the evening,When the stars twinkle into the grey,Seems to echo the far-away calling of childrenMagic hath stolen away.
Words in this poem
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
- outnumber v. t.
- To exceed in number.
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- twinkle v. i.
- To open and shut the eye rapidly; to blink; to wink. [OE. twinklen, AS. twinclian; akin to OE. twinken to blink, wink, G. zwinken, zwinkern, and perhaps to E. twitch.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Truants is in the public domain. This text is taken from Peacock Pie, a Book of Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #3753; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter de la Mare, The Truants, in Peacock Pie (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3753, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-peacock-pie/the-truants.html, id L12589.
Form and metre
The Truants is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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 faintly · gayA · children · awayA
- 2 -A-A april · wayA · children · awayA
- 3 -A-A meadows · mayA · children · awayA
- 4 -A-A moonbeam · sprayA · children · awayA
- 5 -A-A evening · greyA · children · awayA
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ere my heart beats too coldly and faintly | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| To remember sad things, yet be gay, | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| I would sing a brief song of the world's little children | 13 | ·········/˘/˘ |
| Magic hath stolen away. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| The primroses scattered by April, | 9 | ·/·˘/˘·/˘ |
| The stars of the wide Milky Way, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Cannot outnumber the hosts of the children | 11 | ˘/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Magic hath stolen away. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| The buttercup green of the meadows, | 9 | ·/˘····/· |
| The snow of the blossoming may, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lovelier are not than the legions of children | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Magic hath stolen away. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| The waves tossing surf in the moonbeam, | 9 | ··/˘···/· |
| The albatross lone on the spray, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Alone know the tears wept in vain for the children | 12 | ˘/········/˘ |
| Magic hath stolen away. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
| In vain: for at hush of the evening, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| When the stars twinkle into the grey, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Seems to echo the far-away calling of children | 13 | ··/˘··˘//˘·/˘ |
| Magic hath stolen away. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘/ |
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.