Summer
Summer, sweet Summer, many-fingered Summer!We hold thee very dear, as well we may:It is the kernel of the year to-day--All hail to thee! thou art a welcome comer!If every insect were a fairy drummer,And I a fifer that could deftly play,We'd give the old Earth such a roundelayThat she would cast all thought of labour from her.--Ah! what is this upon my window-pane?Some sulky, drooping cloud comes pouting up,Stamping its glittering feet along the plain!--Well, I will let that idle fancy drop!Oh, how the spouts are bubbling with the rain!And all the earth shines like a silver cup!
Words in this poem
- comer n.
- One who comes, or who has come; one who has arrived, and is present. All comers, all who come, or offer, to take part in a matter, especially in a contest or controversy.
- drummer n.
- One whose office is to best the drum, as in military exercises and marching.
- fifer n.
- One who plays on a fife.
- deftly adv.
- Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. [Cf. Defly.]
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- pouting n.
- Childish sullenness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Summer 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, Summer, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/summer.html, id L22459.
Form and metre
Summer is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABBAABB-CDC-CD summerA · mayB · dayB · comerA · drummerA · playB · roundelayB · her · paneC · upD · plainC · drop · rainC · cupD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Summer, sweet Summer, many-fingered Summer! | 11 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| We hold thee very dear, as well we may: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| It is the kernel of the year to-day-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All hail to thee! thou art a welcome comer! | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| If every insect were a fairy drummer, | 11 | ·/˘/···/˘/˘ |
| And I a fifer that could deftly play, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| We'd give the old Earth such a roundelay | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| That she would cast all thought of labour from her.-- | 11 | ·······/··· |
| Ah! what is this upon my window-pane? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Some sulky, drooping cloud comes pouting up, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Stamping its glittering feet along the plain!-- | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| Well, I will let that idle fancy drop! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Oh, how the spouts are bubbling with the rain! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And all the earth shines like a silver cup! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.