The Prairie
The skies are blue above my head,The prairie green below,And flickering o'er the tufted grassThe shifting shadows go,Vague-sailing, where the feathery cloudsFleck white the tranquil skies,Black javelins darting where aloftThe whirring pheasant flies.
A glimmering plain in drowsy tranceThe dim horizon bounds,Where all the air is resonantWith sleepy summer sounds,--The life that sings among the flowers,The lisping of the breeze,The hot cicala's sultry cry,The murmurous dream of bees.
The butterfly--a flying flower--Wheels swift in flashing rings,And flutters round his quiet kin,With brave flame-mottled wings.The wild Pinks burst in crimson fireThe Phlox' bright clusters shine,And Prairie-Cups are swinging freeTo spill their airy wine.
And lavishly beneath the sun,In liberal splendour rolled,The Fennel fills the dipping plainWith floods of flowery gold;And widely weaves the Iron-WeedA woof of purple dyesWhere Autumn's royal feet may treadWhen bankrupt Summer flies.
In verdurous tumult far awayThe prairie-billows gleam,Upon their crests in blessing restsThe noontide's gracious beam.Low quivering vapours steaming dimThe level splendours breakWhere languid Lilies deck the rimOf some land-circled lake.
Far in the east like low-hung cloudsThe waving woodlands lie;Far in the west the glowing plainMelts warmly in the sky.No accent wounds the reverent air,No footprint dints the sod,Lone in the light the prairie liesRapt in a dream of God.
Words in this poem
- fleck n.
- A flake; also, a lock, as of wool. J. Martin.
- murmurous a.
- Attended with murmurs; exciting murmurs or complaint; murmuring. [Cf. L. murmuriosus, OF. murmuros.]
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
- lavishly adv.
- In a lavish manner.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- verdurous a.
- Covered with verdure; clothed with the fresh green of vegetation; verdured; verdant; as, verdurous pastures.
- warmly adv.
- In a warm manner; ardently.
- footprint n.
- The impression of the foot; a trace or footmark; as,
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Prairie is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; 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 Hay, The Prairie, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/the-prairie.html, id L21623.
Form and metre
The Prairie is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 -A-A-B-B head · belowA · grass · goA · clouds · skiesB · aloft · fliesB
- 2 -A-ABB-B trance · boundsA · resonant · soundsA · flowersB · breezeB · cry · beesB
- 3 -A-A-B-B flower · ringsA · kin · wingsA · fire · shineB · free · wineB
- 4 -A-A-B-B sun · rolledA · plain · goldA · weed · dyesB · tread · fliesB
- 5 -A-ABCBC away · gleamA · rests · beamA · dimB · breakC · rimB · lakeC
- 6 -A-A-B-B clouds · lieA · plain · skyA · air · sodB · lies · godB
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 skies are blue above my head, | 8 | ········ |
| The prairie green below, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And flickering o'er the tufted grass | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The shifting shadows go, | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| Vague-sailing, where the feathery clouds | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Fleck white the tranquil skies, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Black javelins darting where aloft | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The whirring pheasant flies. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A glimmering plain in drowsy trance | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The dim horizon bounds, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Where all the air is resonant | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| With sleepy summer sounds,-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The life that sings among the flowers, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The lisping of the breeze, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The hot cicala's sultry cry, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| The murmurous dream of bees. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The butterfly--a flying flower-- | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Wheels swift in flashing rings, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And flutters round his quiet kin, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With brave flame-mottled wings. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The wild Pinks burst in crimson fire | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The Phlox' bright clusters shine, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Prairie-Cups are swinging free | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To spill their airy wine. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And lavishly beneath the sun, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In liberal splendour rolled, | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| The Fennel fills the dipping plain | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With floods of flowery gold; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And widely weaves the Iron-Weed | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A woof of purple dyes | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where Autumn's royal feet may tread | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When bankrupt Summer flies. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| In verdurous tumult far away | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| The prairie-billows gleam, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Upon their crests in blessing rests | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The noontide's gracious beam. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Low quivering vapours steaming dim | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The level splendours break | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Where languid Lilies deck the rim | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of some land-circled lake. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Far in the east like low-hung clouds | 8 | ········ |
| The waving woodlands lie; | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| Far in the west the glowing plain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Melts warmly in the sky. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No accent wounds the reverent air, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| No footprint dints the sod, | 6 | ·/···· |
| Lone in the light the prairie lies | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rapt in a dream of God. | 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.