Spring Wind in London

Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) · 1923

iambic tetrameter · ABABAB · 42 lines · from Poems

I blow across the stagnant world,I blow across the sea,For me, the sailor’s flag unfurled,For me, the uprooted tree.My challenge to the world is hurled;The world must bow to me.

I drive the clouds across the sky,I huddle them like sheep;Merciless shepherd-dog am IAnd shepherd-watch I keep.If in the quiet vales they lieI blow them up the steep.

Lo! In the tree-tops do I hide,In every living thing;On the moon’s yellow wings I glide,On the wild rose I swing;On the sea-horse’s back I ride,And what then do I bring?

And when a little child is illI pause, and with my handI wave the window curtain’s frillThat he may understandOutside the wind is blowing still.... It is a pleasant land.

O stranger in a foreign place,See what I bring to you.This rain—is tears upon your face;I tell you—tell you trueI came from that forgotten placeWhere once the wattle grew.

All the wild sweetness of the flowerTangled against the wall.It was that magic, silent hour....The branches grew so tallThey twined themselves into a bower.The sun shone ... and the fall

Of yellow blossom on the grass!You feel that golden rain?Both of you could not hold, alas,(Both of you tried—in vain)A memory, stranger. So I pass....It will not come again.

Words in this poem

huddle v. i.: To press together promiscuously, from confusion, apprehension, or the like; to crowd together confusedly; to press or hurry in disorder; to crowd. [Cf. OE. hoderen, hodren, to cover, keep, warm; perh. akin to OE. huden, hiden, to hide, E. hide, and orig. meaning, to get together for protection in a safe pla]
wattle n.: A twig or flexible rod; hence, a hurdle made of such rods. [AS. watel, watul, watol, hurdle, covering, wattle; cf. OE. watel a bag. Cf. Wallet.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Spring Wind in London 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, Spring Wind in London, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/spring-wind-in-london.html, id L27569.

Form and metre

Spring Wind in London is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).

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.

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 ABABAB world^A · sea^B · unfurled^A · tree^B · hurled^A · me^B
2 ABABAB sky^A · sheep^B · i^A · keep^B · lie^A · steep^B
3 ABABAB hide^A · thing^B · glide^A · swing^B · ride^A · bring^B
4 ABABAB ill^A · hand^B · frill^A · understand^B · still^A · land^B
5 ABABAB place^A · you^B · face^A · true^B · place^A · grew^B
6 ABABAB flower^A · wall^B · hour^A · tall^B · bower^A · fall^B
7 ABABAB grass^A · rain^B · alas^A · vain^B · pass^A · again^B

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
I blow across the stagnant world,	8	··˘/·/˘·
I blow across the sea,	6	··˘/··
For me, the sailor’s flag unfurled,	8	···/˘·˘/
For me, the uprooted tree.	7	···˘/˘·
My challenge to the world is hurled;	8	·/˘·····
The world must bow to me.	6	······
I drive the clouds across the sky,	8	····˘/··
I huddle them like sheep;	6	·/˘···
Merciless shepherd-dog am I	8	/˘˘/˘···
And shepherd-watch I keep.	6	·/˘···
If in the quiet vales they lie	8	···/˘···
I blow them up the steep.	6	······
Lo! In the tree-tops do I hide,	8	········
In every living thing;	7	·/˘˘/˘·
On the moon’s yellow wings I glide,	8	···/˘···
On the wild rose I swing;	6	······
On the sea-horse’s back I ride,	8	···/˘···
And what then do I bring?	6	······
And when a little child is ill	8	···/˘···
I pause, and with my hand	6	······
I wave the window curtain’s frill	8	···/˘/˘·
That he may understand	6	····˘/
Outside the wind is blowing still.	8	//···/˘·
... It is a pleasant land.	6	···/˘·
O stranger in a foreign place,	8	·/˘··/˘·
See what I bring to you.	6	······
This rain—is tears upon your face;	8	········
I tell you—tell you true	6	······
I came from that forgotten place	8	····˘/˘·
Where once the wattle grew.	6	···/˘·
All the wild sweetness of the flower	9	···/˘··/˘
Tangled against the wall.	6	/˘····
It was that magic, silent hour....	9	···/˘/˘/˘
The branches grew so tall	6	·/˘···
They twined themselves into a bower.	9	··˘/···/˘
The sun shone ... and the fall	6	······
Of yellow blossom on the grass!	8	·/˘/˘···
You feel that golden rain?	6	···/˘·
Both of you could not hold, alas,	8	······˘/
(Both of you tried—in vain)	6	······
A memory, stranger. So I pass....	8	·/˘/˘···
It will not come again.	6	····˘/

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.

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