Pastorals I
HOW sweet on sunny afternoons,For those who journey light and well,To loiter up a hilly riseWhich hides the prospect far beyond,And fancy all the landscape lyingBeautiful and still;
Beneath a sky of summer blue,Whose rounded cloudlets, folded soft,Gaze on the scene which we awaitAnd picture from their peacefulness;So calmly to the earth incliningFloat those loving shapes!
Like airy brides, each singling outA spot to love and bless with love,Their creamy bosoms glowing warm,Till distance weds them to the hills,And with its latest gleam the riverSinks in their embrace.
And silverly the river runs,And many a graceful wind he makes,By fields where feed the happy flocks,And hedge-rows hushing pleasant lanes,The charms of English home reflectedIn his shining eye:
Ancestral oak, broad-foliaged elm,Rich meadows sunned and starred with flowers,The cottage breathing tender smokeAgainst the brooding golden air,With glimpses of a stately mansionOn a woodland sward;
And circling round, as with a ring,The distance spreading amber haze,Enclosing hills and pastures sweet;A depth of soft and mellow lightWhich fills the heart with sudden yearningAimless and serene!
No disenchantment follows here,For nature’s inspiration movesThe dream which she herself fulfils;And he whose heart, like valley warmth,Steams up with joy at scenes like thisShall never be forlorn.
And O for any human soulThe rapture of a wide survey—A valley sweeping to the West,With all its wealth of loveliness,Is more than recompense for daysThat taught us to endure.
Words in this poem 15
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- hilly a.
- Abounding with hills; uneven in surface; as, a hilly country.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- creamy a.
- Full of, or containing, cream; resembling cream, in nature, appearance, or taste; creamlike; unctuous.
- silverly adv.
- Like silver in appearance or in sound.
- hushing n.
- The process of washing ore, or of uncovering mineral veins, by a heavy discharge of water from a reservoir; flushing; -- also called booming.
- foliaged a.
- Furnished with foliage; leaved; as, the variously foliaged mulberry.
- starred a.
- Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled. [From Star.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- aimless a.
- Without aim or purpose; as, an aimless life.
- disenchantment n.
- The act of disenchanting, or state of being disenchanted. [Pref. dis- + enchantment: cf. F. désenchantement.]
- 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,]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pastorals I is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #1381; 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 Meredith, Pastorals I, in Modern Love, and Other Poems (1851–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1381, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meredith-poems/pastorals-i.html, id L13151.
Form and metre
Pastorals I is 48 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 6 A---A- ringA · haze · sweet · light · yearningA · serene
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HOW sweet on sunny afternoons, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For those who journey light and well, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To loiter up a hilly rise | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Which hides the prospect far beyond, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And fancy all the landscape lying | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| Beautiful and still; | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| Beneath a sky of summer blue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whose rounded cloudlets, folded soft, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Gaze on the scene which we await | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And picture from their peacefulness; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| So calmly to the earth inclining | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Float those loving shapes! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Like airy brides, each singling out | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A spot to love and bless with love, | 8 | ········ |
| Their creamy bosoms glowing warm, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Till distance weds them to the hills, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And with its latest gleam the river | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Sinks in their embrace. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| And silverly the river runs, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And many a graceful wind he makes, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| By fields where feed the happy flocks, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And hedge-rows hushing pleasant lanes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The charms of English home reflected | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| In his shining eye: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Ancestral oak, broad-foliaged elm, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Rich meadows sunned and starred with flowers, | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| The cottage breathing tender smoke | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Against the brooding golden air, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With glimpses of a stately mansion | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| On a woodland sward; | 5 | ··/·· |
| And circling round, as with a ring, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The distance spreading amber haze, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Enclosing hills and pastures sweet; | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| A depth of soft and mellow light | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which fills the heart with sudden yearning | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Aimless and serene! | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| No disenchantment follows here, | 8 | ·˘˘/˘/˘· |
| For nature’s inspiration moves | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The dream which she herself fulfils; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And he whose heart, like valley warmth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Steams up with joy at scenes like this | 8 | ········ |
| Shall never be forlorn. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And O for any human soul | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The rapture of a wide survey— | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A valley sweeping to the West, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With all its wealth of loveliness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Is more than recompense for days | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That taught us to endure. | 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.