April
A pleasant heat breathes off the scented grass,From bright green blades, and shining daisies:Now give we joy, who sometime cried, Alas!Now set we forth our melodies, and singSoft praises to the spring,Musical praises.
The flying winds are lovely with the sun:Now all in sweet and dainty fashionGoes life: for royal seasons are begun.Now each new day and each new promise addFresh cause of being glad,With vernal passion.
Few leaves upon the branches dare the spring:But many buds are making ready,Trusting the sun, their perfect summer king.Likewise we put away our wintry cares:We hear but happy airs;Our hopes are steady.
Cold were the crystal rivers, bitter cold;And snows upon the iron mountains;And withering leaves upon the trodden mould.Hark to the crystal voices of the rills,Falling among the hills,From secret fountains!
Long not for June with roses: nor for nightsLoud with tumultuary thunder:Those hours wax heavy with their fierce delights.But April is all bright, and gives us first,Before the roses burst,Her joy and wonder.
Clear lie the fields, and fade into blue air:Here, sweet concerted birds are singingAround this lawn of sweet grass, warm and fair.And holy music, through the waving trees,Comes gently down the breeze,Where bells are ringing.
Words in this poem
- sometime adv.
- At a past time indefinitely referred to; once; formerly.
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- tumultuary a.
- Attended by, or producing, a tumult; disorderly; promiscuous; confused; tumultuous. [L. tumultuarius: cf. F. tumultuaire.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
April is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #66520; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lionel Johnson, April, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/april.html, id L12548.
Form and metre
April is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABACCB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 A-ABB- grassA · daisies · alasA · singB · springB · praises
- 2 ABACCB sunA · fashionB · begunA · addC · gladC · passionB
- 3 ABACCB springA · readyB · kingA · caresC · airsC · steadyB
- 4 ABACCB coldA · mountainsB · mouldA · rillsC · hillsC · fountainsB
- 5 ABACCB nightsA · thunderB · delightsA · firstC · burstC · wonderB
- 6 ABACCB airA · singingB · fairA · treesC · breezeC · ringingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A pleasant heat breathes off the scented grass, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| From bright green blades, and shining daisies: | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Now give we joy, who sometime cried, Alas! | 10 | ·····/··˘/ |
| Now set we forth our melodies, and sing | 9 | ····//˘·· |
| Soft praises to the spring, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Musical praises. | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| The flying winds are lovely with the sun: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Now all in sweet and dainty fashion | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Goes life: for royal seasons are begun. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Now each new day and each new promise add | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fresh cause of being glad, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With vernal passion. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Few leaves upon the branches dare the spring: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But many buds are making ready, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Trusting the sun, their perfect summer king. | 10 | /˘···˘//˘· |
| Likewise we put away our wintry cares: | 10 | /···˘///˘· |
| We hear but happy airs; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Our hopes are steady. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Cold were the crystal rivers, bitter cold; | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| And snows upon the iron mountains; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And withering leaves upon the trodden mould. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Hark to the crystal voices of the rills, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Falling among the hills, | 6 | /˘···· |
| From secret fountains! | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Long not for June with roses: nor for nights | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Loud with tumultuary thunder: | 9 | ··˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Those hours wax heavy with their fierce delights. | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| But April is all bright, and gives us first, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Before the roses burst, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Her joy and wonder. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Clear lie the fields, and fade into blue air: | 10 | ·········· |
| Here, sweet concerted birds are singing | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Around this lawn of sweet grass, warm and fair. | 10 | ·········· |
| And holy music, through the waving trees, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Comes gently down the breeze, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where bells are ringing. | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.