The Earth-Child in the Grass
In the very early morningLong before Dawn timeI lay down in the paddockAnd listened to the cold song of the grass.Between my fingers the green blades,And the green blades pressed against my body.“Who is she leaning so heavily upon me?”Sang the grass.“Why does she weep on my bosom,Mingling her tears with the tears of my mystic lover?Foolish little earth child!It is not yet time.One day I shall open my bosomAnd you shall slip in—but not weeping.Then in the early morningLong before Dawn timeYour lover will lie in the paddock.Between his fingers the green bladesAnd the green blades pressed against his body ...My song shall not sound cold to himIn my deep wave he will find the wave of your hairIn my strong sweet perfume, the perfume of your kisses.Long and long he will lie there ...Laughing—not weeping.”
Words in this poem
- paddock n.
- A small inclosure or park for sporting. [Corrupted fr. parrock. See Parrock.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Earth-Child in the Grass 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, The Earth-Child in the Grass, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/the-earth-child-in-the-grass.html, id L27587.
Form and metre
The Earth-Child in the Grass is 24 lines in a single stanza.
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 ABCDEF-DG--BGHABCEF-I-IH morningA · timeB · paddockC · grassD · bladesE · bodyF · me · grassD · bosomG · lover · child · timeB · bosomG · weepingH · morningA · timeB · paddockC · bladesE · bodyF · him · hairI · kisses · thereI · weepingH
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the very early morning | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Long before Dawn time | 5 | ····· |
| I lay down in the paddock | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And listened to the cold song of the grass. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Between my fingers the green blades, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the green blades pressed against my body. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| “Who is she leaning so heavily upon me?” | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| Sang the grass. | 3 | ··· |
| “Why does she weep on my bosom, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Mingling her tears with the tears of my mystic lover? | 13 | /˘·······/˘/˘ |
| Foolish little earth child! | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| It is not yet time. | 5 | ····· |
| One day I shall open my bosom | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| And you shall slip in—but not weeping. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Then in the early morning | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Long before Dawn time | 5 | ····· |
| Your lover will lie in the paddock. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Between his fingers the green blades | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the green blades pressed against his body ... | 10 | ········/˘ |
| My song shall not sound cold to him | 8 | ········ |
| In my deep wave he will find the wave of your hair | 12 | ············ |
| In my strong sweet perfume, the perfume of your kisses. | 13 | ····˘/·˘/··/˘ |
| Long and long he will lie there ... | 7 | ······· |
| Laughing—not weeping.” | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
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.