The Garden in Winter
Frosty-white and cold it liesUnderneath the fretful skies;Snowflakes flutter where the redBanners of the poppies spread,And the drifts are wide and deepWhere the lilies fell asleep.
But the sunsets o'er it throwFlame-like splendor, lucent glow,And the moonshine makes it gleamLike a wonderland of dream,And the sharp winds all the dayPipe and whistle shrilly gay.
Safe beneath the snowdrifts lieRainbow buds of by-and-by;In the long, sweet days of springMusic of bluebells shall ring,And its faintly golden cupMany a primrose will hold up.
Though the winds are keen and chillRoses' hearts are beating still,And the garden tranquillyDreams of happy hours to be—In the summer days of blueAll its dreamings will come true.
Words in this poem
- lucent a.
- Shining; bright; resplendent. [L. lucens, p. pr. of lucere to shine, fr. lux, lucis, light.]
- moonshine n.
- The light of the moon.
- wonderland n.
- A land full of wonders, or marvels. M. Arnold.
- shrilly a.
- Somewhat shrill.
- 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,]
- tranquilly adv.
- In a tranquil manner; calmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Garden in Winter is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, The Garden in Winter, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/the-garden-in-winter.html, id L29442.
Form and metre
The Garden in Winter is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABBCC liesA · skiesA · redB · spreadB · deepC · asleepC
- 2 AABBCC throwA · glowA · gleamB · dreamB · dayC · gayC
- 3 AABBCC lieA · byA · springB · ringB · cupC · upC
- 4 AABBCC chillA · stillA · tranquillyB · beB · blueC · trueC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Frosty-white and cold it lies | 7 | /˘····· |
| Underneath the fretful skies; | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Snowflakes flutter where the red | 7 | /·/˘··· |
| Banners of the poppies spread, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And the drifts are wide and deep | 7 | ······· |
| Where the lilies fell asleep. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| But the sunsets o'er it throw | 7 | ··/···· |
| Flame-like splendor, lucent glow, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And the moonshine makes it gleam | 7 | ··/···· |
| Like a wonderland of dream, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the sharp winds all the day | 7 | ······· |
| Pipe and whistle shrilly gay. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Safe beneath the snowdrifts lie | 7 | ······· |
| Rainbow buds of by-and-by; | 7 | /······ |
| In the long, sweet days of spring | 7 | ······· |
| Music of bluebells shall ring, | 7 | /˘·/··· |
| And its faintly golden cup | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Many a primrose will hold up. | 8 | /˘·/···· |
| Though the winds are keen and chill | 7 | ······· |
| Roses' hearts are beating still, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And the garden tranquilly | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Dreams of happy hours to be— | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| In the summer days of blue | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All its dreamings will come true. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.