July
Some flowers are withered and some joys have died;The garden reeks with an East Indian scentFrom beds where gillyflowers stand weak and spent;The white heat pales the skies from side to side;But in still lakes and rivers, cool, content,Like starry blooms on a new firmament,White lilies float and regally abide.In vain the cruel skies their hot rays shed;The lily does not feel their brazen glare.In vain the pallid clouds refuse to shareTheir dews; the lily feels no thirst, no dread.Unharmed she lifts her queenly face and head;She drinks of living waters and keeps fair.
Words in this poem
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- regally adv.
- In a regal or royal manner.
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- queenly a.
- Like, becoming, or suitable to, a queen. [AS. cwenlic feminine.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
July is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Calendar of Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #9825; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Hunt Jackson, July, in A Calendar of Sonnets (1886), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9825, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jackson-sonnets/july.html, id L22651.
Form and metre
July is 13 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBABBACDDCCD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABBABBACDDCCD diedA · scentB · spentB · sideA · contentB · firmamentB · abideA · shedC · glareD · shareD · dreadC · headC · fairD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Some flowers are withered and some joys have died; | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| The garden reeks with an East Indian scent | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| From beds where gillyflowers stand weak and spent; | 11 | ··········· |
| The white heat pales the skies from side to side; | 10 | ·········· |
| But in still lakes and rivers, cool, content, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Like starry blooms on a new firmament, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| White lilies float and regally abide. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| In vain the cruel skies their hot rays shed; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The lily does not feel their brazen glare. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| In vain the pallid clouds refuse to share | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Their dews; the lily feels no thirst, no dread. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Unharmed she lifts her queenly face and head; | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| She drinks of living waters and keeps fair. | 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.