In the Wood
In the wood where shadows are deepestFrom the branches overhead,Where the wild wood-strawberries clusterAnd the softest moss is spread,I met to-day with a fairy,And I followed her where she led.
Some magical words she uttered,I alone could understand,For the sky grew bluer and brighter;While there rose on either handThe cloudy walls of a palaceThat was built in Fairy-land.
And I stood in a strange enchantment;I had known it all before:In my heart of hearts was the magicOf days that will come no more,The manic of joy departed,That Time can never restore.
That never, ah, never, never,Never again can be:-Shall I tell you what powerful fairyBuilt up this palace for me?It was only a little white VioletI found at the root of a tree.
Words in this poem
- manic a.
- Of or pert. to, or characterized by, mania, or excitement.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Wood is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, In the Wood, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/in-the-wood.html, id L21767.
Form and metre
In the Wood is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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.
- 1 -A-A-A deepest · overheadA · cluster · spreadA · fairy · ledA
- 2 -A-A-A uttered · understandA · brighter · handA · palace · landA
- 3 -A-A-A enchantment · beforeA · magic · moreA · departed · restoreA
- 4 -A-A-A never · beA · fairy · meA · violet · treeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the wood where shadows are deepest | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| From the branches overhead, | 7 | ··/˘/˘/ |
| Where the wild wood-strawberries cluster | 9 | ····/·˘/˘ |
| And the softest moss is spread, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I met to-day with a fairy, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And I followed her where she led. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Some magical words she uttered, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| I alone could understand, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| For the sky grew bluer and brighter; | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| While there rose on either hand | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The cloudy walls of a palace | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| That was built in Fairy-land. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And I stood in a strange enchantment; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| I had known it all before: | 7 | ······· |
| In my heart of hearts was the magic | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of days that will come no more, | 7 | ······· |
| The manic of joy departed, | 8 | ·/˘··˘/˘ |
| That Time can never restore. | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| That never, ah, never, never, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Never again can be:- | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| Shall I tell you what powerful fairy | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Built up this palace for me? | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| It was only a little white Violet | 10 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| I found at the root of a tree. | 8 | ········ |
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.