In February
Now in the dark of February rains,Poor lovers of the sunshine, spring is born,The earthy fields are full of hidden corn,And March's violets bud along the lanes;
Therefore with joy believe in what remains.And thou who dost not feel them, do not scornOur early songs for winter overworn,And faith in God's handwriting on the plains.
"Hope" writes he, "Love" in the first violet,"Joy," even from Heaven, in songs and winds and trees;And having caught the happy words in theseWhile Nature labours with the letters yet,Spring cannot cheat us, though her hopes be broken,Nor leave us, for we know what God hath spoken.
Words in this poem
- 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.
- overworn p. p.
- Worn out or subdued by toil; worn out so as to be trite.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In February is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, In February, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/in-february.html, id L22402.
Form and metre
In February is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABBA rainsA · bornB · cornB · lanesA
- 2 ABBA remainsA · scornB · overwornB · plainsA
- 3 ABBACC violetA · treesB · theseB · yetA · brokenC · spokenC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now in the dark of February rains, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Poor lovers of the sunshine, spring is born, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| The earthy fields are full of hidden corn, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And March's violets bud along the lanes; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Therefore with joy believe in what remains. | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| And thou who dost not feel them, do not scorn | 10 | ·········· |
| Our early songs for winter overworn, | 10 | //˘··/˘··· |
| And faith in God's handwriting on the plains. | 10 | ····/·˘··· |
| "Hope" writes he, "Love" in the first violet, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| "Joy," even from Heaven, in songs and winds and trees; | 10 | ·/·/······ |
| And having caught the happy words in these | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| While Nature labours with the letters yet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Spring cannot cheat us, though her hopes be broken, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Nor leave us, for we know what God hath spoken. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
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.