Rural Walks: Written at the Age of Thirteen
Oh! may I ever pass my happy hoursIn Cambrian valleys and romantic bowers;For every spot in sylvan beauty drest,And every landscape, charms my youthful breast.And much I love to hail the vernal morn,When flowers of spring the mossy seat adorn;And sometimes through the lonely wood I stray,To cull the tender rosebuds in my way;And seek in every wild secluded dell,The weeping cowslip and the azure bell;With all the blossoms, fairer in the dew,To form the gay festoon of varied hue.And oft I seek the cultivated green,The fertile meadow, and the village scene;Where rosy children sport around the cot,Or gather woodbine from the garden spot.And there I wander by the cheerful rill,That murmurs near the osiers and the mill;To view the smiling peasants turn the hay,And listen to their pleasing festive lay.I love to loiter in the spreading grove,Or in the mountain scenery to rove;Where summits rise in awful grace around,With hoary moss and tufted verdure crown’d;Where cliffs in solemn majesty are piled,“And frown upon the vale” with grandeur wild:And there I view the mouldering tower sublime,Array’d in all the blending shades of Time.
The airy upland and the woodland green,The valley, and romantic mountain scene;The lowly hermitage, or fair domain,The dell retired, or willow-shaded lane;“And every spot in sylvan beauty drest,And every landscape, charms my youthful breast.”
Words in this poem
- cambrian a.
- Of or pertaining to Cambria or Wales.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- cowslip n.
- A common flower in England (Primula veris) having yellow blossoms and appearing in early spring. It is often cultivated in the United States. [AS. c, c, prob. orig., cow's droppings. Cf. Slop, n.]
- festoon n.
- A garland or wreath hanging in a depending curve, used in decoration for festivals, etc.; anything arranged in this way. [F. feston (cf. Sp. feston, It. festone), prob. fr. L. festum festival. See Feast.]
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- blending n.
- The act of mingling.
- hermitage n.
- The habitation of a hermit; a secluded residence. [OE. hermitage, ermitage, F. hermitage, ermitage. See Hermit.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rural Walks: Written at the Age of Thirteen is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Rural Walks: Written at the Age of Thirteen, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/rural-walks-written-at-the-age-of-thirteen.html, id L13416.
Form and metre
Rural Walks: Written at the Age of Thirteen is 34 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIDDJJKKLLMM hoursA · bowersA · drestB · breastB · mornC · adornC · strayD · wayD · dellE · bellE · dewF · hueF · greenG · sceneG · cotH · spotH · rillI · millI · hayD · layD · groveJ · roveJ · aroundK · crown'dK · piledL · wildL · sublimeM · timeM
- 2 AABBCC greenA · sceneA · domainB · laneB · drestC · breastC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh! may I ever pass my happy hours | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In Cambrian valleys and romantic bowers; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| For every spot in sylvan beauty drest, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And every landscape, charms my youthful breast. | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| And much I love to hail the vernal morn, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When flowers of spring the mossy seat adorn; | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| And sometimes through the lonely wood I stray, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| To cull the tender rosebuds in my way; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And seek in every wild secluded dell, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| The weeping cowslip and the azure bell; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With all the blossoms, fairer in the dew, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To form the gay festoon of varied hue. | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| And oft I seek the cultivated green, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| The fertile meadow, and the village scene; | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Where rosy children sport around the cot, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Or gather woodbine from the garden spot. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And there I wander by the cheerful rill, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That murmurs near the osiers and the mill; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To view the smiling peasants turn the hay, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And listen to their pleasing festive lay. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| I love to loiter in the spreading grove, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or in the mountain scenery to rove; | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Where summits rise in awful grace around, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| With hoary moss and tufted verdure crown’d; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Where cliffs in solemn majesty are piled, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| “And frown upon the vale” with grandeur wild: | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| And there I view the mouldering tower sublime, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘/ |
| Array’d in all the blending shades of Time. | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| The airy upland and the woodland green, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| The valley, and romantic mountain scene; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| The lowly hermitage, or fair domain, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| The dell retired, or willow-shaded lane; | 10 | ··˘/·/·/˘· |
| “And every spot in sylvan beauty drest, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And every landscape, charms my youthful breast.” | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
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