The Rose
Since the days of old Adam the welkin has rungWith the praises of sweet scented posies,And poets in rapturous phrases have sungThe paramount beauties of roses.
Wheresoever she bides, whether nestling in lanesOr gracing the proud urban bowers,The red, royal rose her distinction maintainsAs the one regnant queen among flowers.
How joyous are we of the west when we findThat Fate, with her gifts ever chary,Has decreed that the Rose, who is queen of her kindShall bloom on our wild western prairie.
Let us laugh at the east as an impotent thingWith envy and jealously crazy,While grateful Chicago is happy to singIn the praise of the rose--she's a daisy.
Words in this poem
- welkin n.
- The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven; the sky. [OE. welken, welkene, welkne, wolcne, weolcne, AS. wolcen, pl. wolcnu, a cloud; akin to D. wolk, OFries. wolken, OS. wolkan, G. wolke, OHG. wolchan, and probably]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- nestling n.
- A young bird which has not abandoned the nest. Piers Plowman.
- urban a.
- Of or belonging to a city or town; as, an urban population. [L. urbanus belonging to the urbs, urbis, a city: cf. F. urbain. Cf. Urbane.]
- regnant a.
- Exercising regal authority; reigning; as, a queen regnant. [L. regnans, -antis, p. pr. of regnare to reign: cf. F régnant. See Reign.]
- chary a.
- Careful; wary; cautious; not rash, reckless, or spendthrift; saving; frugal. [AS. cearig careful, fr. cearu care. See Care.]
- 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,]
- jealously adv.
- In a jealous manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Rose is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, The Rose, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/the-rose.html, id L11634.
Form and metre
The Rose is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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- rungA · posies · sungA · roses
- 2 ABAB lanesA · bowersB · maintainsA · flowersB
- 3 A-A- findA · chary · kindA · prairie
- 4 ABAB thingA · crazyB · singA · daisyB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Since the days of old Adam the welkin has rung | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| With the praises of sweet scented posies, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| And poets in rapturous phrases have sung | 10 | ·/˘·/˘/˘·· |
| The paramount beauties of roses. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Wheresoever she bides, whether nestling in lanes | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Or gracing the proud urban bowers, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The red, royal rose her distinction maintains | 11 | ··/˘··˘/˘˘/ |
| As the one regnant queen among flowers. | 9 | ···/˘···/ |
| How joyous are we of the west when we find | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| That Fate, with her gifts ever chary, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Has decreed that the Rose, who is queen of her kind | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| Shall bloom on our wild western prairie. | 9 | ···/·/˘/˘ |
| Let us laugh at the east as an impotent thing | 11 | ········/˘· |
| With envy and jealously crazy, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| While grateful Chicago is happy to sing | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| In the praise of the rose--she's a daisy. | 10 | ········/˘ |
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.