Autumn: An Ode
Alas! with swift and silent pace,Impatient time rolls on the year;The seasons change, and nature's faceNow sweetly smiles, now frowns severe,'Twas spring, 'twas summer, all was gay,Now autumn bends a cloudy brow;The flow'rs of spring are swept away,And summer-fruits desert the bough.The verdant leaves, that play'd on high,And wanton'd on the western breeze,Now, trod in dust, neglected lie,As Boreas strips the bending trees.The fields, that way'd with golden grain,As russet heaths, are wild and bare;Not moist with dew, but drench'd with rain,Nor health, nor pleasure, wanders there.No more, while through the midnight shade,Beneath the moon's pale orb I stray,Soft pleasing woes my heart invade,As Progne pours the melting lay.From this capricious clime she soars,Oh! would some god but wings supply!To where each morn the spring restores,Companion of her flight I'd fly.Vain wish! me fate compels to bearThe downward season's iron reign;Compels to breathe polluted air,And shiver on a blasted plain.What bliss to life can autumn yield,If glooms, and show'rs, and storms prevail,And Ceres flies the naked field,And flowers, and fruits, and Phoebus fail?Oh! what remains, what lingers yet,To cheer me in the dark'ning hour!The grape remains! the friend of wit,In love, and mirth, of mighty pow'r.Haste--press the clusters, fill the bowl;Apollo! shoot thy parting ray:This gives the sunshine of the soul,This god of health, and verse, and day.Still--still the jocund strain shall flow,The pulse with vig'rous rapture beat;My Stella with new charms shall glow,And ev'ry bliss in wine shall meet.
Words in this poem
- boreas n.
- The north wind; -- usually a personification. [L. boreas, Gr. .]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- 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.]
- blasted a.
- Blighted; withered.
- ceres n.
- The daughter of Saturn and Ops or Rhea, the goddess of corn and tillage. [L., Ceres, also corn, grain, akin to E. create.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Autumn: An Ode is in the public domain. This text is taken from Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 (The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes, 1825), Project Gutenberg ebook #10835; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Johnson, Autumn: An Ode, in Poems (1825), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10835, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-poems/autumn-an-ode.html, id L27136.
Form and metre
Autumn: An Ode is 44 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMNOPOP----QRQRSTST paceA · yearB · faceA · severeB · gayC · browD · awayC · boughD · highE · breezeF · lieE · treesF · grainG · bareH · rainG · thereH · shadeI · strayJ · invadeI · layJ · soarsK · supplyL · restoresK · flyL · bearM · reignN · airM · plainN · yieldO · prevailP · fieldO · failP · yet · hour · wit · pow'r · bowlQ · rayR · soulQ · dayR · flowS · beatT · glowS · meetT
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas! with swift and silent pace, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Impatient time rolls on the year; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| The seasons change, and nature's face | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Now sweetly smiles, now frowns severe, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| 'Twas spring, 'twas summer, all was gay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Now autumn bends a cloudy brow; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The flow'rs of spring are swept away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And summer-fruits desert the bough. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The verdant leaves, that play'd on high, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And wanton'd on the western breeze, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Now, trod in dust, neglected lie, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| As Boreas strips the bending trees. | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| The fields, that way'd with golden grain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As russet heaths, are wild and bare; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Not moist with dew, but drench'd with rain, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor health, nor pleasure, wanders there. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| No more, while through the midnight shade, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Beneath the moon's pale orb I stray, | 8 | ········ |
| Soft pleasing woes my heart invade, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| As Progne pours the melting lay. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From this capricious clime she soars, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Oh! would some god but wings supply! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To where each morn the spring restores, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Companion of her flight I'd fly. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Vain wish! me fate compels to bear | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The downward season's iron reign; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Compels to breathe polluted air, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| And shiver on a blasted plain. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| What bliss to life can autumn yield, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If glooms, and show'rs, and storms prevail, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And Ceres flies the naked field, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And flowers, and fruits, and Phoebus fail? | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Oh! what remains, what lingers yet, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| To cheer me in the dark'ning hour! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The grape remains! the friend of wit, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| In love, and mirth, of mighty pow'r. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Haste--press the clusters, fill the bowl; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Apollo! shoot thy parting ray: | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| This gives the sunshine of the soul, | 8 | ···/···· |
| This god of health, and verse, and day. | 8 | ········ |
| Still--still the jocund strain shall flow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pulse with vig'rous rapture beat; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My Stella with new charms shall glow, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And ev'ry bliss in wine shall meet. | 8 | ········ |
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