In the Rangitaki Valley
O valley of waving broom,O lovely, lovely light,O heart of the world, red-gold!Breast high in the blossom I stand;It beats about me like wavesOf a magical, golden sea.
The barren heart of the worldAlive at the kiss of the sun,The yellow mantle of SummerFlung over a laughing land,Warm with the warmth of her body,Sweet with the kiss of her breath.
O valley of waving broom,O lovely, lovely light,O mystical marriage of EarthWith the passionate Summer sun!To her lover she holds a cupAnd the yellow wine o’erflows.He has lighted a little torchAnd the whole of the world is ablaze.Prodigal wealth of love!Breast high in the blossom I stand.
Words in this poem
- ablaze adv.
- On fire; in a blaze, gleaming. Milman. [Pref. a- + blaze.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Rangitaki Valley is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59276; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Katherine Mansfield, In the Rangitaki Valley, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/in-the-rangitaki-valley.html, id L27568.
Form and metre
In the Rangitaki Valley is 22 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O valley of waving broom, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| O lovely, lovely light, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| O heart of the world, red-gold! | 7 | ······· |
| Breast high in the blossom I stand; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| It beats about me like waves | 7 | ······· |
| Of a magical, golden sea. | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| The barren heart of the world | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Alive at the kiss of the sun, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The yellow mantle of Summer | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Flung over a laughing land, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Warm with the warmth of her body, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sweet with the kiss of her breath. | 7 | ······· |
| O valley of waving broom, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| O lovely, lovely light, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| O mystical marriage of Earth | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| With the passionate Summer sun! | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| To her lover she holds a cup | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And the yellow wine o’erflows. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| He has lighted a little torch | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| And the whole of the world is ablaze. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Prodigal wealth of love! | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Breast high in the blossom I stand. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
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.