Spring-tide
Lenten ys come with love to toune,With blosmen ant with briddes roune,That al this blisse bryngeth;Dayes-eyes in this dales,Notes suete of nyhtegales,Vch foul song singeth;
The threstlecoc him threteth oo,Away is huere wynter wo,When woderove springeth;This foules singeth ferly fele,Ant wlyteth on huere winter wele,That al the wode ryngeth.
The rose rayleth hire rode,The leves on the lyhte wodeWaxen al with wille;The mone mandeth hire bleo,The lilie is lossom to seo,The fenyl ant the fille;Wowes this wilde drakes,Miles murgeth huere makes;Ase strem that striketh stille,Mody meneth; so doth mo(Ichot ycham on of tho)For loue that likes ille.
The mone mandeth hire lyht,So doth the semly sonne bryht.When briddes singeth breme;Deowes donketh the dounes,Deores with huere derne rounesDomes forte deme;
(decide) their decisions.
Wormes woweth under cloude,Wymmen waxeth wounder proude,So wel hit wol hem seme,Yef me shal wonte wille of on,This wunne weole y wole forgonAnt wyht in wode be fleme.
Words in this poem
- lenten n.
- Lent. Piers Plowman.
- ferly a.
- Singular; wonderful; extraordinary. -- n. [AS. f sudden, unexpected. See Fear, n.]
- wele n.
- Prosperity; happiness; well-being; weal. [See Weal prosperity.]
- wode a.
- Mad. See Wood, a. [AS. wod.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
- breme a.
- Fierce; sharp; severe; cruel. [OE. breme, brime, fierce, impetuous, glorious, AS. breme, br, famous. Cf. Brim, a.]
- derne v. t.
- To hide; to skulk. [AS. dyrnan to hide. See Dern, a., Dearn, a.]
- forte n.
- The strong point; that in which one excels. fort"a The construction of a fable seems by no means the forte of our modern poetical writers. Jeffrey. [IT. forte: cf. F. fort. See Fort.]
- deme n.
- A territorial subdivision of Attica (also of modern Greece), corresponding to a township. Jowett (Thucyd).
- wounder n.
- One who, or that which, wounds.
- seme a.
- Sprinkled or sown; -- said of field, or a charge, when strewed or covered with small charges. [F. semé, fr. semer to sow.]
- fleme v. t.
- To banish; to drive out; to expel. [AS. fleman, flyman.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spring-tide is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anonymous, Spring-tide, in Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-anonymous-english/spring-tide.html, id L15887.
Form and metre
Spring-tide is 37 lines in 6 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABCCB, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 AABCCB touneA · rouneA · bryngethB · dalesC · nyhtegalesC · singethB
- 2 --ABBA oo · wo · springethA · feleB · weleB · ryngethA
- 3 AAB--BCCBDDB rodeA · wodeA · willeB · bleo · seo · filleB · drakesC · makesC · stilleB · moD · thoD · illeB
- 4 AABCCB lyhtA · bryhtA · bremeB · dounesC · rounesC · demeB
- 6 AAB--B cloudeA · proudeA · semeB · on · forgon · flemeB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lenten ys come with love to toune, | 8 | /˘······ |
| With blosmen ant with briddes roune, | 7 | ······· |
| That al this blisse bryngeth; | 6 | ······ |
| Dayes-eyes in this dales, | 5 | ····· |
| Notes suete of nyhtegales, | 6 | ······ |
| Vch foul song singeth; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The threstlecoc him threteth oo, | 8 | ········ |
| Away is huere wynter wo, | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| When woderove springeth; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| This foules singeth ferly fele, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Ant wlyteth on huere winter wele, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That al the wode ryngeth. | 6 | ······ |
| The rose rayleth hire rode, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| The leves on the lyhte wode | 6 | ······ |
| Waxen al with wille; | 5 | /˘··· |
| The mone mandeth hire bleo, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The lilie is lossom to seo, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The fenyl ant the fille; | 6 | ······ |
| Wowes this wilde drakes, | 4 | ···· |
| Miles murgeth huere makes; | 5 | ····· |
| Ase strem that striketh stille, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Mody meneth; so doth mo | 7 | /˘····· |
| (Ichot ycham on of tho) | 7 | ······· |
| For loue that likes ille. | 5 | ····· |
| The mone mandeth hire lyht, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| So doth the semly sonne bryht. | 7 | ······· |
| When briddes singeth breme; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Deowes donketh the dounes, | 5 | ····· |
| Deores with huere derne rounes | 5 | ····· |
| Domes forte deme; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| (decide) their decisions. | 6 | ˘/·˘/˘ |
| Wormes woweth under cloude, | 6 | ······ |
| Wymmen waxeth wounder proude, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| So wel hit wol hem seme, | 7 | ······· |
| Yef me shal wonte wille of on, | 7 | ······· |
| This wunne weole y wole forgon | 9 | ········· |
| Ant wyht in wode be fleme. | 6 | ······ |
Notes from the edition 1
Quiller-Couch's glosses on the hard words, from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900, chosen and edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch (Oxford, 1900; Project Gutenberg #66619)
- Stanza 1 _3._ to toune] in its turn. him threteth oo] is aye chiding them. huere] their. woderove] woodruff. ferly fele] marvellous many. wlyteth] whistle, or look. rayleth hire rode] clothes herself in red. mandeth hire bleo] sends forth her light. lossom to seo] lovesome to see. fille] thyme. wowes] woo. miles] males. murgeth] make merry. makes] mates. striketh] flows, trickles. mody meneth] the moody man makes moan. so doth mo] so do many. on of tho] one of them. breme] lustily. deowes] dews. donketh] make dank. deores] dears, lovers. huere derne rounes] their secret tales. domes forte deme] for to give _3._ cloude] clod. wunne weole] wealth of joy. y wole forgon] I will forgo. wyht] wight. fleme] banished.
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.