Twilight in the Garden
The scent of the earth is moist and goodIn the dewy shadeOf the tall, dark poplars whose slender topsAgainst the sunset bloom are laid,And a robin is whistling in the copseBy the dim spruce wood.
The west wind blowing o'er branch and flowerOut of the wold,Steals through the honeysuckle bowerAnd bears away on its airy wingsOdors that breath of paradise;Dim are the poppies' splendid dyes,But many a pallid primrose swingsIts lamp of gold.
A white moth flits from tree to treeLike a wandering soul;Deep in the lily a muffled boomTells of a honey-drunken beeWildered with sweets in that ivory bowl;Many a subtle melody,Many a rare sound all unknownTo the lusty daylight's fuller toneThreads with its magic this hush and gloom.
Many a dear thought deep in the heart,Many a memory, dulcet and fine,Wakes as we walk in the garden to-night,In this soft kissing of dark and light,When the world has drawn itself apartFrom our spirit's shrine.
Words in this poem
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- dulcet a.
- Sweet to the taste; luscious. [OF. doucet, dim. of dous sweet, F. doux, L. dulcis; akin to Gr. Doucet.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Twilight in the Garden 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, Twilight in the Garden, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/twilight-in-the-garden.html, id L29419.
Form and metre
Twilight in the Garden is 29 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 ABCBCA goodA · shadeB · topsC · laidB · copseC · woodA
- 2 ABAC--CB flowerA · woldB · bowerA · wingsC · paradise · dyes · swingsC · goldB
- 3 ABCAB-DDC treeA · soulB · boomC · beeA · bowlB · melody · unknownD · toneD · gloomC
- 4 ABCCAB heartA · fineB · nightC · lightC · apartA · shrineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The scent of the earth is moist and good | 9 | ········· |
| In the dewy shade | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of the tall, dark poplars whose slender tops | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Against the sunset bloom are laid, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And a robin is whistling in the copse | 10 | ··/˘·/˘··· |
| By the dim spruce wood. | 5 | ····· |
| The west wind blowing o'er branch and flower | 9 | ···/˘···/ |
| Out of the wold, | 4 | ···· |
| Steals through the honeysuckle bower | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| And bears away on its airy wings | 9 | ··˘/··/˘· |
| Odors that breath of paradise; | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Dim are the poppies' splendid dyes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But many a pallid primrose swings | 8 | ·/·/˘/·· |
| Its lamp of gold. | 4 | ···· |
| A white moth flits from tree to tree | 8 | ········ |
| Like a wandering soul; | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Deep in the lily a muffled boom | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Tells of a honey-drunken bee | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Wildered with sweets in that ivory bowl; | 8 | /····/˘· |
| Many a subtle melody, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| Many a rare sound all unknown | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| To the lusty daylight's fuller tone | 9 | ··/˘/·/˘· |
| Threads with its magic this hush and gloom. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Many a dear thought deep in the heart, | 8 | /······· |
| Many a memory, dulcet and fine, | 8 | /·/˘/˘·· |
| Wakes as we walk in the garden to-night, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| In this soft kissing of dark and light, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| When the world has drawn itself apart | 9 | ·····˘/˘/ |
| From our spirit's shrine. | 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.