Time of Clearer Twitterings
Time of crisp and tawny leaves,And of tarnished harvest sheaves,And of dusty grasses--weeds--Thistles, with their tufted seedsVoyaging the Autumn breezeLike as fairy argosies:Time of quicker flash of wings,And of clearer twitteringsIn the grove, or deeper shadeOf the tangled everglade,--Where the spotted water-snakeCoils him in the sunniest brake;And the bittern, as in fright,Darts, in sudden, slanting flight,Southward, while the startled craneFilms his eyes in dreams again.
Down along the dwindled creekWe go loitering. We speakOnly with old questioningsOf the dear remembered thingsOf the days of long ago,When the stream seemed thus and soIn our boyish eyes:--The bankGreener then, through rank on rankOf the mottled sycamores,Touching tops across the shores:Here, the hazel thicket stood--There, the almost pathless woodWhere the shellbark hickory treeRained its wealth on you and me.Autumn! as you loved us then,Take us to your heart again!
Season halest of the year!How the zestful atmosphereNettles blood and brain, and smitesInto life the old delightsWe have tasted in our youth,And our graver years, forsooth!How again the boyish heartLeaps to see the chipmunk startFrom the brush and sleek the sunVery beauty, as he runs!How again a subtle hintOf crushed pennyroyal or mint,Sends us on our knees, as whenWe were truant boys of ten--Brown marauders of the wood,Merrier than Robin Hood!
Ah! will any minstrel say,In his sweetest roundelay,What is sweeter, after all,Than black haws, in early Fall--Fruit so sweet the frost first sat,Dainty-toothed, and nibbled at!And will any poet singOf a lusher, richer thingThan a ripe May-apple, rolledLike a pulpy lump of goldUnder thumb and finger-tips,And poured molten through the lips?Go, ye bards of classic themes,Pipe your songs by classic streams!I would twang the redbird's wingsIn the thicket while he sings!
Words in this poem
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- everglade n.
- A swamp or low tract of land inundated with water and interspersed with hummocks, or small islands, and patches of high grass; as, the everglades of Florida. [U. S.]
- boyish a.
- Resembling a boy in a manners or opinions; belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; puerile.
- pathless a.
- Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
- shellbark n.
- A species of hickory (Carya alba) whose outer bark is loose and peeling; a shagbark; also, its nut.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- graver n.
- One who graves; an engraver or a sculptor; one whose occupation is te cut letters or figures in stone or other hard material.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- pennyroyal n.
- An aromatic herb (Mentha Pulegium) of Europe; also, a North American plant (Hedeoma pulegioides) resembling it in flavor. Bastard pennyroyal (Bot.) See Blue curls, under Blue. [A corruption of OE. puliall royal. OE. puliall is ultimately derived fr. L. puleium, or pulegium regium (so called as being good against fleas), fr. pulex a fle]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Time of Clearer Twitterings is in the public domain. This text is taken from Riley Child-Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #9777; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Whitcomb Riley, Time of Clearer Twitterings, in Riley Child-Rhymes (1890), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9777, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-child-rhymes/time-of-clearer-twitterings.html, id L25053.
Form and metre
Time of Clearer Twitterings is 64 lines in 4 stanzas of 16 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH leavesA · sheavesA · weedsB · seedsB · breezeC · argosiesC · wingsD · twitteringsD · shadeE · evergladeE · snakeF · brakeF · frightG · flightG · craneH · againH
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH creekA · speakA · questioningsB · thingsB · agoC · soC · bankD · rankD · sycamoresE · shoresE · stoodF · woodF · treeG · meG · thenH · againH
- 3 AA--BBCC--DDEEFF yearA · atmosphereA · smites · delights · youthB · forsoothB · heartC · startC · sun · runs · hintD · mintD · whenE · tenE · woodF · hoodF
- 4 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH sayA · roundelayA · allB · fallB · satC · atC · singD · thingD · rolledE · goldE · tipsF · lipsF · themesG · streamsG · wingsH · singsH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Time of crisp and tawny leaves, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And of tarnished harvest sheaves, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And of dusty grasses--weeds-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Thistles, with their tufted seeds | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Voyaging the Autumn breeze | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Like as fairy argosies: | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Time of quicker flash of wings, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And of clearer twitterings | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the grove, or deeper shade | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of the tangled everglade,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the spotted water-snake | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Coils him in the sunniest brake; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the bittern, as in fright, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Darts, in sudden, slanting flight, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Southward, while the startled crane | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Films his eyes in dreams again. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Down along the dwindled creek | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| We go loitering. We speak | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Only with old questionings | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| Of the dear remembered things | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Of the days of long ago, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| When the stream seemed thus and so | 7 | ······· |
| In our boyish eyes:--The bank | 7 | ·//˘··· |
| Greener then, through rank on rank | 7 | /˘····· |
| Of the mottled sycamores, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Touching tops across the shores: | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Here, the hazel thicket stood-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| There, the almost pathless wood | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Where the shellbark hickory tree | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Rained its wealth on you and me. | 7 | ······· |
| Autumn! as you loved us then, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Take us to your heart again! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Season halest of the year! | 7 | /˘····· |
| How the zestful atmosphere | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Nettles blood and brain, and smites | 7 | /˘····· |
| Into life the old delights | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| We have tasted in our youth, | 7 | ··/˘·/· |
| And our graver years, forsooth! | 7 | ·//˘·˘/ |
| How again the boyish heart | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Leaps to see the chipmunk start | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the brush and sleek the sun | 7 | ······· |
| Very beauty, as he runs! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| How again a subtle hint | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Of crushed pennyroyal or mint, | 7 | ······· |
| Sends us on our knees, as when | 7 | ···/··· |
| We were truant boys of ten-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Brown marauders of the wood, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Merrier than Robin Hood! | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Ah! will any minstrel say, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| In his sweetest roundelay, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| What is sweeter, after all, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Than black haws, in early Fall-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Fruit so sweet the frost first sat, | 7 | ······· |
| Dainty-toothed, and nibbled at! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And will any poet sing | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Of a lusher, richer thing | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Than a ripe May-apple, rolled | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Like a pulpy lump of gold | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Under thumb and finger-tips, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And poured molten through the lips? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Go, ye bards of classic themes, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Pipe your songs by classic streams! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I would twang the redbird's wings | 7 | ····/·· |
| In the thicket while he sings! | 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.