The Reaper and the Flowers
There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,And, with his sickle keen,He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,And the flowers that grow between.
"Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he;"Have naught but the bearded grain?Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me,I will give them all back again."
He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes,He kissed their drooping leaves;It was for the Lord of ParadiseHe bound them in his sheaves.
"My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,"The Reaper said, and smiled;"Dear tokens of the earth are they,Where he was once a child.
"They shall all bloom in fields of light,Transplanted by my care,And saints, upon their garments white,These sacred blossoms wear."
And the mother gave, in tears and pain,The flowers she most did love;She knew she should find them all againIn the fields of light above.
O, not in cruelty, not in wrath,The Reaper came that day;'T was an angel visited the green earth,And took the flowers away.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- tearful a.
- Abounding with tears; weeping; shedding tears; as, tearful eyes.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Reaper and the Flowers is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Reaper and the Flowers, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-reaper-and-the-flowers.html, id L17481.
Form and metre
The Reaper and the Flowers is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB deathA · keenB · breathA · betweenB
- 2 ABAB heA · grainB · meA · againB
- 3 ABAB eyesA · leavesB · paradiseA · sheavesB
- 4 ABAB gayA · smiledB · theyA · childB
- 5 ABAB lightA · careB · whiteA · wearB
- 6 ABAB painA · loveB · againA · aboveB
- 7 ABAB wrathA · dayB · earthA · awayB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And, with his sickle keen, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And the flowers that grow between. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he; | 9 | ········· |
| "Have naught but the bearded grain? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| I will give them all back again." | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, | 9 | ····/·/˘· |
| He kissed their drooping leaves; | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| It was for the Lord of Paradise | 9 | ······/˘· |
| He bound them in his sheaves. | 6 | ······ |
| "My Lord has need of these flowerets gay," | 10 | ·········· |
| The Reaper said, and smiled; | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| "Dear tokens of the earth are they, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where he was once a child. | 6 | ······ |
| "They shall all bloom in fields of light, | 8 | ········ |
| Transplanted by my care, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| And saints, upon their garments white, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| These sacred blossoms wear." | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| And the mother gave, in tears and pain, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| The flowers she most did love; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| She knew she should find them all again | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| In the fields of light above. | 7 | ······· |
| O, not in cruelty, not in wrath, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Reaper came that day; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'T was an angel visited the green earth, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And took the flowers away. | 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.