Peter's Field
To reap its scanty corn,What mystic fruit his acres yield
That field by spirits bad and good,By Hell and Heaven is haunted,And every rood in the hemlock woodI know is ground enchanted.
The plain was full of ghosts:I wandered up, I wandered down,
For in those lonely grounds the sunShines not as on the town,In nearer arcs his journeys run,And nearer stoops the moon.
There in a moment I have seenThe buried Past arise;The fields of Thessaly grew green,Old gods forsook the skies.
I cannot publish in my rhymeWhat pranks the greenwood played;It was the Carnival of time,And Ages went or stayed.
To me that spectral nook appearedThe mustering Day of Doom,And round me swarmed in shadowy troopThings past and things to come.
The darkness haunteth me elsewhere;There I am full of light;In every whispering leaf I hearMore sense than sages write.
Underwoods were full of pleasance,All to each in kindness bend,And every flower made obeisanceAs a man unto his friend.
Far seen, the river glides below,Tossing one sparkle to the eyes:I catch thy meaning, wizard wave;The River of my Life replies.
Words in this poem
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- rood n.
- A representation in sculpture or in painting of the cross with Christ hanging on it. [AS. rr, D. roede rod, G. ruthe, rute, OHG. ruota. CF. Rod a measure.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- pleasance n.
- Pleasure; merriment; gayety; delight; kindness. [F. plaisance. See Please.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Peter's Field is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Peter's Field, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/peter-s-field.html, id L07563.
Form and metre
Peter's Field is 36 lines in 10 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 4 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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.
- 2 AAAA goodA · hauntedA · woodA · enchantedA
- 4 A-A- sunA · town · runA · moon
- 5 ABAB seenA · ariseB · greenA · skiesB
- 6 ABAB rhymeA · playedB · timeA · stayedB
- 8 ABAB elsewhereA · lightB · hearA · writeB
- 9 ABAB pleasanceA · bendB · obeisanceA · friendB
- 10 -A-A below · eyesA · wave · repliesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To reap its scanty corn, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What mystic fruit his acres yield | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That field by spirits bad and good, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By Hell and Heaven is haunted, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| And every rood in the hemlock wood | 9 | ·/˘···/·· |
| I know is ground enchanted. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| The plain was full of ghosts: | 6 | ······ |
| I wandered up, I wandered down, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For in those lonely grounds the sun | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shines not as on the town, | 6 | ······ |
| In nearer arcs his journeys run, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And nearer stoops the moon. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There in a moment I have seen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The buried Past arise; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The fields of Thessaly grew green, | 8 | ········ |
| Old gods forsook the skies. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| I cannot publish in my rhyme | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What pranks the greenwood played; | 7 | ···/··˘ |
| It was the Carnival of time, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And Ages went or stayed. | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| To me that spectral nook appeared | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The mustering Day of Doom, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And round me swarmed in shadowy troop | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Things past and things to come. | 6 | ······ |
| The darkness haunteth me elsewhere; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/· |
| There I am full of light; | 6 | ······ |
| In every whispering leaf I hear | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| More sense than sages write. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Underwoods were full of pleasance, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| All to each in kindness bend, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And every flower made obeisance | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| As a man unto his friend. | 7 | ······· |
| Far seen, the river glides below, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Tossing one sparkle to the eyes: | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| I catch thy meaning, wizard wave; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The River of my Life replies. | 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.