The Seasons
“Mother, I know Spring bears her giftsOf young buds scarce unfurled,For through bare apple-boughs I seeThe blue hills of the world;And the pale daffodils are setSharp, in the April light----”“The gift that Spring has brought to meIs fight, my son, fight.”
“And, Mother, on the heels of SpringThe seasons follow hard,When Summer glorifies the fieldAnd Autumn stacks the yard;Time was, I watched their gifts unroll,And scarce could choose the best----”“The gift that I would have of themIs rest, my son, rest.”
“But, Mother, might they grant your boonAnd were the conflict done,O Mother, have you strength to stand----?”“I would lie down, my son.”“Where would you look to ease your eyesWhen strife with tears had ceas’t?And whither would your feet be turned----?”“East, my son, east.”
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- unroll v. t.
- To open, as what is rolled or convolved; as, to unroll cloth; to unroll a banner. [1st pref. un- + roll.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Seasons is in the public domain. This text is taken from Bonnie Joann, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #69484; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Violet Jacob, The Seasons, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/the-seasons.html, id L21957.
Form and metre
The Seasons is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 -ABA-CBC gifts · unfurledA · seeB · worldA · set · lightC · meB · fightC
- 2 -A-A-B-B spring · hardA · field · yardA · unroll · bestB · them · restB
- 3 -A-A-B-B boon · doneA · stand · sonA · eyes · ceas'tB · turned · eastB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Mother, I know Spring bears her gifts | 8 | /˘······ |
| Of young buds scarce unfurled, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For through bare apple-boughs I see | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The blue hills of the world; | 6 | ······ |
| And the pale daffodils are set | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sharp, in the April light----” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “The gift that Spring has brought to me | 8 | ········ |
| Is fight, my son, fight.” | 5 | ····· |
| “And, Mother, on the heels of Spring | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The seasons follow hard, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| When Summer glorifies the field | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Autumn stacks the yard; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Time was, I watched their gifts unroll, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And scarce could choose the best----” | 6 | ······ |
| “The gift that I would have of them | 8 | ········ |
| Is rest, my son, rest.” | 5 | ····· |
| “But, Mother, might they grant your boon | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And were the conflict done, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O Mother, have you strength to stand----?” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “I would lie down, my son.” | 6 | ······ |
| “Where would you look to ease your eyes | 8 | ········ |
| When strife with tears had ceas’t? | 6 | ······ |
| And whither would your feet be turned----?” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “East, my son, east.” | 4 | ···· |
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.