In May
Grief was my master yesternight;To-morrow I may grieve again;But now along the windy plainThe clouds have taken flight.
The sowers in the furrows go;The lusty river brimmeth on;The curtains from the hills are gone;The leaves are out; and lo,
The silvery distance of the day,The light horizons, and betweenThe glory of the perfect green,The tumult of the May.
The bobolinks at noonday singMore softly than the softest flute,And lightlier than the lightest luteTheir fairy tambours ring.
The roads far off are towered with dust;The cherry-blooms are swept and thinned;In yonder swaying elms the windIs charging gust on gust.
But here there is no stir at all;The ministers of sun and shadowHorde all the perfumes of the meadowBehind a grassy wall.
An infant rivulet wind-freeAdown the guarded hollow sets,Over whose brink the violetsAre nodding peacefully.
From pool to pool it prattles by;The flashing swallows dip and pass,Above the tufted marish grass,And here at rest am I.
I care not for the old distress,Nor if to-morrow bid me moan;To-day is mine, and I have knownAn hour of blessedness.
Words in this poem
- yesternight n.
- The last night; the night last past.
- noonday n.
- Midday; twelve o'clock in the day; noon.
- towered a.
- Adorned or defended by towers.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- horde n.
- A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude. Thomson. [F. horde (cf. G. horde), fr. Turk. ord, ordi, camp; of Tartar origin.]
- 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.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- marish n.
- Low, wet ground; a marsh; a fen; a bog; a moor. [Cf. F. marais, LL. marascus. See Marsh.]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In May is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lyrics of Earth, Project Gutenberg ebook #12664; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Archibald Lampman, In May, in Lyrics of Earth (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12664, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lampman-lyrics/in-may.html, id L11095.
Form and metre
In May is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBA yesternightA · againB · plainB · flightA
- 2 ABBA goA · onB · goneB · loA
- 3 ABBA dayA · betweenB · greenB · mayA
- 4 ABBA singA · fluteB · luteB · ringA
- 5 ABBA dustA · thinnedB · windB · gustA
- 6 ABBA allA · shadowB · meadowB · wallA
- 7 -AA- free · setsA · violetsA · peacefully
- 8 ABBA byA · passB · grassB · iA
- 9 ABBA distressA · moanB · knownB · blessednessA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grief was my master yesternight; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| To-morrow I may grieve again; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| But now along the windy plain | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The clouds have taken flight. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The sowers in the furrows go; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The lusty river brimmeth on; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The curtains from the hills are gone; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The leaves are out; and lo, | 6 | ······ |
| The silvery distance of the day, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The light horizons, and between | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The glory of the perfect green, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| The tumult of the May. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The bobolinks at noonday sing | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| More softly than the softest flute, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And lightlier than the lightest lute | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their fairy tambours ring. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The roads far off are towered with dust; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The cherry-blooms are swept and thinned; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In yonder swaying elms the wind | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is charging gust on gust. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But here there is no stir at all; | 8 | ········ |
| The ministers of sun and shadow | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| Horde all the perfumes of the meadow | 9 | ···˘/··/· |
| Behind a grassy wall. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| An infant rivulet wind-free | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Adown the guarded hollow sets, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Over whose brink the violets | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Are nodding peacefully. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| From pool to pool it prattles by; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The flashing swallows dip and pass, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Above the tufted marish grass, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And here at rest am I. | 6 | ······ |
| I care not for the old distress, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor if to-morrow bid me moan; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To-day is mine, and I have known | 8 | ········ |
| An hour of blessedness. | 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.