Spring's First Smile
While up and down the earth men pant and plod,March, laughing at the showers and days unsteady,And whispering secret orders to the sod,For Spring makes ready.
And slyly when the world is sleeping yet,He smooths out collars for the Easter daisies,And fashions golden buttercups to setIn woodland mazes.
Coif-maker fine, he worketh well his plan.Orchard and vineyard for his touch are prouder.From a white swan he hath a down to fanThe trees with powder.
While Nature still upon her couch doth lean,Stealthily hies he to the garden closes,And laces in their bodices of greenPale buds of roses.
Composing his solfeggios in the shade,He whistles them to blackbirds as he treadeth,And violets in the wood, and in the gladeSnowdrops, he spreadeth.
Where for the restless stag the fountain wells,His hidden hand glides soft amid the cresses,And scatters lily-of-the-valley bells,In silver dresses.
He sinks the sweet, vermilion strawberriesDeep in the grasses for thy roving fingers,And garlands leaflets for thy forehead's ease,When sunshine lingers.
When, labour done, he must away, turns heOn April's threshold from his fair creating,And calleth unto Spring: "Come, Spring--for see,The woods are waiting!"
Words in this poem
- pant v. i.
- To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion or from eagerness or excitement; to respire with heaving of the breast; to gasp. [Cf. F. panteler to gasp for breath, OF. panteisier to be breathless, F. pantois out of breath; perh. akin to E. phantom, the verb prob. orig. meaning, to have t]
- plod v. i.
- To travel slowly but steadily; to trudge. [Gf. Gael. plod a clod, a pool; also, to strike or pelt with a clod or clods.]
- vineyard n.
- An inclosure or yard for grapevines; a plantation of vines producing grapes. [For OE. winyard, AS. wingeard; influenced by E. vine. See Wine, and Yard an inclosure.]
- 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 ]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spring's First Smile is in the public domain. This text is taken from Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, the Agnes Lee translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Théophile Gautier, Spring's First Smile, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/spring-s-first-smile.html, id L26996.
Form and metre
Spring's First Smile is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABAB plodA · unsteadyB · sodA · readyB
- 2 ABAB yetA · daisiesB · setA · mazesB
- 3 ABAB planA · prouderB · fanA · powderB
- 4 ABAB leanA · closesB · greenA · rosesB
- 5 ABAB shadeA · treadethB · gladeA · spreadethB
- 6 ABAB wellsA · cressesB · bellsA · dressesB
- 7 ABAB strawberriesA · fingersB · easeA · lingersB
- 8 ABAB heA · creatingB · seeA · waitingB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| While up and down the earth men pant and plod, | 10 | ·········· |
| March, laughing at the showers and days unsteady, | 11 | ·/˘··/··˘/˘ |
| And whispering secret orders to the sod, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| For Spring makes ready. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And slyly when the world is sleeping yet, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| He smooths out collars for the Easter daisies, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And fashions golden buttercups to set | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| In woodland mazes. | 5 | ·/·/˘ |
| Coif-maker fine, he worketh well his plan. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Orchard and vineyard for his touch are prouder. | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| From a white swan he hath a down to fan | 10 | ·········· |
| The trees with powder. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| While Nature still upon her couch doth lean, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Stealthily hies he to the garden closes, | 11 | /˘˘····/˘/˘ |
| And laces in their bodices of green | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Pale buds of roses. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Composing his solfeggios in the shade, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| He whistles them to blackbirds as he treadeth, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And violets in the wood, and in the glade | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Snowdrops, he spreadeth. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Where for the restless stag the fountain wells, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His hidden hand glides soft amid the cresses, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| And scatters lily-of-the-valley bells, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| In silver dresses. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| He sinks the sweet, vermilion strawberries | 10 | ····˘/˘/·˘ |
| Deep in the grasses for thy roving fingers, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And garlands leaflets for thy forehead's ease, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| When sunshine lingers. | 5 | ·/·/˘ |
| When, labour done, he must away, turns he | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| On April's threshold from his fair creating, | 11 | ·/˘/····˘/˘ |
| And calleth unto Spring: "Come, Spring--for see, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The woods are waiting!" | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.