The Snow Fairy II
And suddenly my thoughts then turned to youWho came to me upon a winter’s night,When snow-sprites round my attic window flew,Your hair disheveled, eyes aglow with light.My heart was like the weather when you came,The wanton winds were blowing loud and long;But you, with joy and passion all aflame,You danced and sang a lilting summer song.I made room for you in my little bed,Took covers from the closet fresh and warm,A downful pillow for your scented head,And lay down with you resting in my arm.You went with Dawn. You left me ere the day,The lonely actor of a dreamy play.
Words in this poem
- disheveled a.
- Having in loose disorder; disarranged; as, disheveled hair.
- aglow adv.
- In a glow; glowing; as, cheeks aglow; the landscape all aglow. [Pref. a- + glow.]
- aflame adv.
- Inflames; glowing with light or passion; ablaze. G. Eliot. [Pref. a- + flame.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Snow Fairy II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harlem shadows, Project Gutenberg ebook #64989; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Claude McKay, The Snow Fairy II, in Harlem Shadows (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #64989, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mckay-harlem-shadows/the-snow-fairy-ii.html, id L01396.
Form and metre
The Snow Fairy II is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCDE-E-FF youA · nightB · flewA · lightB · cameC · longD · aflameC · songD · bedE · warm · headE · arm · dayF · playF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And suddenly my thoughts then turned to you | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Who came to me upon a winter’s night, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When snow-sprites round my attic window flew, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Your hair disheveled, eyes aglow with light. | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| My heart was like the weather when you came, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The wanton winds were blowing loud and long; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| But you, with joy and passion all aflame, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| You danced and sang a lilting summer song. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I made room for you in my little bed, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Took covers from the closet fresh and warm, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A downful pillow for your scented head, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And lay down with you resting in my arm. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| You went with Dawn. You left me ere the day, | 10 | ·········· |
| The lonely actor of a dreamy play. | 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.