Irony
ALWAYS, sweetheart,Carry into your room the blossoming boughs ofcherry,Almond and apple and pear diffuse with light, thatverySoon strews itself on the floor; and keep the radianceof springFresh quivering; keep the sunny-swift March-dayswaitingIn a little throng at your door, and admit the onewho is plaitingHer hair for womanhood, and play awhile with her,then bid her depart.
A come and go of March-day lovesThrough the flower-vine, trailing screen;A fluttering in of doves.Then a launch abroad of shrinking dovesOver the waste where no hope is seenOf open hands:Dance in and outSmall-bosomed girls of the spring of love,With a bubble of laughter, and shrilly shoutOf mirth; then the dripping of tears on yourglove.
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- shrilly a.
- Somewhat shrill.
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Irony is in the public domain. This text is taken from Amores: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22531; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: D. H. Lawrence, Irony, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/irony.html, id L13551.
Form and metre
Irony is 24 lines in 2 stanzas. 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-B-B-C-C-C-A sweetheartA · of · cherryB · that · veryB · radiance · springC · days · waitingC · one · plaitingC · her · departA
- 2 ABAAB-CDC-D lovesA · screenB · dovesA · dovesA · seenB · hands · outC · loveD · shoutC · your · gloveD
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ALWAYS, sweetheart, | 4 | /·/· |
| Carry into your room the blossoming boughs of | 11 | /˘·····/˘·· |
| cherry, | 2 | /˘ |
| Almond and apple and pear diffuse with light, that | 12 | /˘·/˘··˘/··· |
| very | 2 | /˘ |
| Soon strews itself on the floor; and keep the radiance | 12 | ··˘/······/˘ |
| of spring | 2 | ·· |
| Fresh quivering; keep the sunny-swift March-days | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| waiting | 2 | /˘ |
| In a little throng at your door, and admit the one | 13 | ··/˘·····˘/·· |
| who is plaiting | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Her hair for womanhood, and play awhile with her, | 12 | ···/˘···˘/·· |
| then bid her depart. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| A come and go of March-day loves | 8 | ········ |
| Through the flower-vine, trailing screen; | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| A fluttering in of doves. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Then a launch abroad of shrinking doves | 9 | ···˘/·/˘· |
| Over the waste where no hope is seen | 9 | ········· |
| Of open hands: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Dance in and out | 4 | ···· |
| Small-bosomed girls of the spring of love, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| With a bubble of laughter, and shrilly shout | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Of mirth; then the dripping of tears on your | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| glove. | 1 | · |
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.