Poem
The spring is passing through the landIn web of ghostly green arrayed,And blood is warm in man and maid.
The arches of desire have spannedThe barren ways, the debt is paid,The spring is passing through the landIn web of ghostly green arrayed.
Sweet scents along the winds are fannedFrom shadowy wood and secret gladeWhere beauty blossoms unafraid,The spring is passing through the landIn web of ghostly green arrayedAnd blood is warm in man and maid.
Proud insolent June with burning lipsHolds riot now from sea to sea,And shod in sovran gold is she.
To the full flood of reaping slipsThe seeding-tide by God’s decree,Proud insolent June with burning lipsHolds riot now from sea to sea.
And all the goodly fellowshipsOf bird and bloom and beast and treeAre gallant of her company--Proud insolent June with burning lipsHolds riot now from sea to sea,And shod in sovran gold is she.
The loaded sheaves are harvested,The sheep are in the stubbled fold,The tale of labour crowned is told.
The wizard of the year has spreadA glory over wood and wold,The loaded sheaves are harvested,The sheep are in the stubbled fold.
The yellow apples and the redBear down the boughs, the hazels holdNo more their fruit in cups of gold.The loaded sheaves are harvested,The sheep are in the stubbled fold,The tale of labour crowned is told.
The year is lapsing into timeAlong a deep and songless gloom,Unchapleted of leaf or bloom.
And mute between the dusk and primeThe diligent earth resets her loom,--The year is lapsing into timeAlong a deep and songless gloom.
While o’er the snows the seasons chimeTheir golden hopes to reillumeThe brief eclipse about the tomb,The year is lapsing into timeAlong a deep and songless gloomUnchapleted of leaf or bloom.
Not wise as cunning scholars are,With curious words upon your tongue,Are you for whom my song is sung.
But you are wise of cloud and star,And winds and boughs all blossom-hung,Not wise as cunning scholars are,With curious words upon your tongue.
Surely, clear child of earth, some farDim Dryad-haunted groves among,Your lips to lips of knowledge clung--Not wise as cunning scholars are,With curious words upon your tongue,Are you for whom my song is sung.
Words in this poem
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- sovran a.
- A variant of Sovereign.
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- stubbled a.
- Covered with stubble.
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- songless a.
- Destitute of the power of song; without song; as, songless birds; songless woods.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- reillume v. t.
- To light again; to cause to shine anew; to relume; to reillumine.
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- clung a.
- Wasted away; shrunken. [Prop. p. p. fr. OE. clingen to wither. See Cling, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; 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 Drinkwater, Poem, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/poem.html, id L23059.
Form and metre
Poem is 65 lines in 15 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABB landA · arrayedB · maidB
- 2 ABAB spannedA · paidB · landA · arrayedB
- 3 ABBABB fannedA · gladeB · unafraidB · landA · arrayedB · maidB
- 4 CDD lipsC · seaD · sheD
- 5 CDCD slipsC · decreeD · lipsC · seaD
- 6 CD-CDD fellowshipsC · treeD · company · lipsC · seaD · sheD
- 7 -EE harvested · foldE · toldE
- 8 FE-E spreadF · woldE · harvested · foldE
- 9 FEE-EE redF · holdE · goldE · harvested · foldE · toldE
- 10 GHH timeG · gloomH · bloomH
- 11 GHGH primeG · loomH · timeG · gloomH
- 12 GHHGHH chimeG · reillumeH · tombH · timeG · gloomH · bloomH
- 13 IJJ areI · tongueJ · sungJ
- 14 IJIJ starI · hungJ · areI · tongueJ
- 15 IJJIJJ farI · amongJ · clungJ · areI · tongueJ · sungJ
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The spring is passing through the land | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In web of ghostly green arrayed, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And blood is warm in man and maid. | 8 | ········ |
| The arches of desire have spanned | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The barren ways, the debt is paid, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The spring is passing through the land | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In web of ghostly green arrayed. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Sweet scents along the winds are fanned | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| From shadowy wood and secret glade | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where beauty blossoms unafraid, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The spring is passing through the land | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In web of ghostly green arrayed | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And blood is warm in man and maid. | 8 | ········ |
| Proud insolent June with burning lips | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Holds riot now from sea to sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And shod in sovran gold is she. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To the full flood of reaping slips | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The seeding-tide by God’s decree, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Proud insolent June with burning lips | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Holds riot now from sea to sea. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And all the goodly fellowships | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of bird and bloom and beast and tree | 8 | ········ |
| Are gallant of her company-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Proud insolent June with burning lips | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Holds riot now from sea to sea, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And shod in sovran gold is she. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The loaded sheaves are harvested, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The sheep are in the stubbled fold, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The tale of labour crowned is told. | 8 | ···/···· |
| The wizard of the year has spread | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A glory over wood and wold, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The loaded sheaves are harvested, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The sheep are in the stubbled fold. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The yellow apples and the red | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Bear down the boughs, the hazels hold | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No more their fruit in cups of gold. | 8 | ········ |
| The loaded sheaves are harvested, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The sheep are in the stubbled fold, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The tale of labour crowned is told. | 8 | ···/···· |
| The year is lapsing into time | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Along a deep and songless gloom, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Unchapleted of leaf or bloom. | 8 | ········ |
| And mute between the dusk and prime | 8 | ········ |
| The diligent earth resets her loom,-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The year is lapsing into time | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Along a deep and songless gloom. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| While o’er the snows the seasons chime | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their golden hopes to reillume | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The brief eclipse about the tomb, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The year is lapsing into time | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Along a deep and songless gloom | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Unchapleted of leaf or bloom. | 8 | ········ |
| Not wise as cunning scholars are, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With curious words upon your tongue, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are you for whom my song is sung. | 8 | ········ |
| But you are wise of cloud and star, | 8 | ········ |
| And winds and boughs all blossom-hung, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Not wise as cunning scholars are, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With curious words upon your tongue. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Surely, clear child of earth, some far | 8 | /˘······ |
| Dim Dryad-haunted groves among, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Your lips to lips of knowledge clung-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Not wise as cunning scholars are, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With curious words upon your tongue, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are you for whom my song is sung. | 8 | ········ |
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.