Description of Spring
The soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings,With green hath clad the hill and eke the vale:The nightingale with feathers new she sings;The turtle to her make hath told her tale.Summer is come, for every spray now springs:The hart hath hung his old head on the pale;The buck in brake his winter coat he flings;The fishes flete with new repairèd scale.
The adder all her slough away she slings;The swift swallow pursueth the flies smale;The busy bee her honey now she mings;Winter is worn that was the flowers’ bale.
And thus I see among these pleasant thingsEach care decays, and yet my sorrow springs.
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- flete v. i.
- To float; to swim. [See Fleet, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Description of Spring 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: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Description of Spring, in Poems (1516–1547), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-henry-howard-earl-of-surrey/description-of-spring.html, id L15958.
Form and metre
Description of Spring is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 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 ABABABAB bringsA · valeB · singsA · taleB · springsA · paleB · flingsA · scaleB
- 2 ABAB slingsA · smaleB · mingsA · baleB
- 3 AA thingsA · springsA
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 soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| With green hath clad the hill and eke the vale: | 10 | ·········· |
| The nightingale with feathers new she sings; | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| The turtle to her make hath told her tale. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Summer is come, for every spray now springs: | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| The hart hath hung his old head on the pale; | 10 | ·········· |
| The buck in brake his winter coat he flings; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The fishes flete with new repairèd scale. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The adder all her slough away she slings; | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| The swift swallow pursueth the flies smale; | 10 | ··/˘˘/˘··· |
| The busy bee her honey now she mings; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Winter is worn that was the flowers’ bale. | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And thus I see among these pleasant things | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
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 _39._ make] mate. _39._ mings] mingles, mixes.
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