Ruth
She stood breast high amid the cornClasp'd by the golden light of morn,Like the sweetheart of the sun,Who many a glowing kiss had won.
On her cheek an autumn flush,Deeply ripen'd;--such a blushIn the midst of brown was born,Like red poppies grown with corn.
Round her eyes her tresses fell,Which were blackest none could tell,But long lashes veil'd a light,That had else been all too bright.
And her hat, with shady brim,Made her tressy forehead dim;--Thus she stood amid the stooks,Praising God with sweetest looks:--
Sure, I said, Heav'n did not mean,Where I reap thou shouldst but glean,Lay thy sheaf adown and come,Share my harvest and my home.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- 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.]
- tressy a.
- Abounding in tresses. J. Baillie.
- 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.]
- glean n.
- Cleaning; afterbirth. Holland.
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ruth is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, Ruth, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/ruth.html, id L26116.
Form and metre
Ruth is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABB cornA · mornA · sunB · wonB
- 2 AABB flushA · blushA · bornB · cornB
- 3 AABB fellA · tellA · lightB · brightB
- 4 AABB brimA · dimA · stooksB · looksB
- 5 AABB meanA · gleanA · comeB · homeB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She stood breast high amid the corn | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Clasp'd by the golden light of morn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like the sweetheart of the sun, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Who many a glowing kiss had won. | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| On her cheek an autumn flush, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Deeply ripen'd;--such a blush | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| In the midst of brown was born, | 7 | ······· |
| Like red poppies grown with corn. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Round her eyes her tresses fell, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Which were blackest none could tell, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But long lashes veil'd a light, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That had else been all too bright. | 7 | ······· |
| And her hat, with shady brim, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Made her tressy forehead dim;-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Thus she stood amid the stooks, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Praising God with sweetest looks:-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Sure, I said, Heav'n did not mean, | 7 | ······· |
| Where I reap thou shouldst but glean, | 7 | ······· |
| Lay thy sheaf adown and come, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Share my harvest and my home. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.