Nature's Changes
The springtime's pallid landscapeWill glow like bright bouquet,Though drifted deep in parianThe village lies to-day.
The lilacs, bending many a year,With purple load will hang;The bees will not forget the tuneTheir old forefathers sang.
The rose will redden in the bog,The aster on the hillHer everlasting fashion set,And covenant gentians frill,
Till summer folds her miracleAs women do their gown,Or priests adjust the symbolsWhen sacrament is done.
Words in this poem
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nature's Changes is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, Nature's Changes, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/nature-s-changes.html, id L03783.
Form and metre
Nature's Changes is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 landscape · bouquetA · parian · dayA
- 2 -A-A year · hangA · tune · sangA
- 3 -A-A bog · hillA · set · frillA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The springtime's pallid landscape | 7 | ·/·/˘/· |
| Will glow like bright bouquet, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Though drifted deep in parian | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The village lies to-day. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The lilacs, bending many a year, | 8 | ·/·/˘/·· |
| With purple load will hang; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The bees will not forget the tune | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Their old forefathers sang. | 6 | ··/·˘· |
| The rose will redden in the bog, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The aster on the hill | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Her everlasting fashion set, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And covenant gentians frill, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Till summer folds her miracle | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| As women do their gown, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or priests adjust the symbols | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| When sacrament is done. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
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.