Autumn
I dwell alone--I dwell alone, alone,Whilst full my river flows down to the sea,Gilded with flashing boatsThat bring no friend to me:O love-songs, gurgling from a hundred throats,O love-pangs, let me be.
Fair fall the freighted boats which gold and stoneAnd spices bear to sea:Slim, gleaming maidens swell their mellow notes,Love-promising, entreating--Ah! sweet, but fleeting--Beneath the shivering, snow-white sails.Hush! the wind flags and fails--Hush! they will lie becalmed in sight of strand--Sight of my strand, where I do dwell alone;Their songs wake singing echoes in my land--They cannot hear me moan.
One latest, solitary swallow fliesAcross the sea, rough autumn-tempest tossed,Poor bird, shall it be lost?Dropped down into this uncongenial sea,With no kind eyesTo watch it while it dies,Unguessed, uncared for, free:Set free at last,The short pang past,In sleep, in death, in dreamless sleep locked fast.
Mine avenue is all a growth of oaks,Some rent by thunder strokes,Some rustling leaves and acorns in the breeze;Fair fall my fertile trees,That rear their goodly heads, and live at ease.
A spider's web blocks all mine avenue;He catches down and foolish painted fliesThat spider wary and wise.Each morn it hangs a rainbow strung with dewBetwixt boughs green with sap,So fair, few creatures guess it is a trap:I will not mar the web,Though sad I am to see the small lives ebb.
It shakes--my trees shake--for a wind is rousedIn cavern where it housed:Each white and quivering sail,Of boats among the water leavesHollows and strains in the full-throated gale:Each maiden sings again--Each languid maiden, whom the calmHad lulled to sleep with rest and spice and balmMiles down my river to the seaThey float and wane,Long miles away from me.
Perhaps they say: 'She grieves,Uplifted, like a beacon, on her tower.'Perhaps they say: 'One hourMore, and we dance among the golden sheaves.'Perhaps they say: 'One hourMore, and we stand,Face to face, hand in hand;Make haste, O slack gale, to the looked-for land!'
My trees are not in flower,I have no bower,And gusty creaks my tower,And lonesome, very lonesome, is my strand.
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- 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,]
- uncared a.
- Not cared for; not heeded; -- with for.
- dreamless a.
- Free from, or without, dreams. Camden.
- avenue n.
- A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit. [F. avenue, fr. avenir to come to, L. advenire. See Advene.]
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- gusty a.
- Subject to, or characterized by, gusts or squalls; windy; stormy; tempestuous.
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Autumn is in the public domain. This text is taken from Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #16950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Christina Rossetti, Autumn, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/autumn.html, id L04317.
Form and metre
Autumn is 63 lines in 8 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABCBCB aloneA · seaB · boatsC · meB · throatsC · beB
- 2 ABCDDEEFGFG stoneA · seaB · notesC · entreatingD · fleetingD · sailsE · failsE · strandF · aloneG · landF · moanG
- 3 HIIJHHJKKK fliesH · tossedI · lostI · seaJ · eyesH · diesH · freeJ · lastK · pastK · fastK
- 4 LLMMM oaksL · strokesL · breezeM · treesM · easeM
- 5 NOONPPQQ avenueN · fliesO · wiseO · dewN · sapP · trapP · webQ · ebbQ
- 6 RRS-S-TTU-U rousedR · housedR · sailS · leaves · galeS · again · calmT · balmT · seaU · wane · meU
- 7 VWWVWXXX grievesV · towerW · hourW · sheavesV · hourW · standX · handX · landX
- 8 WWWX flowerW · bowerW · towerW · strandX
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I dwell alone--I dwell alone, alone, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘/ |
| Whilst full my river flows down to the sea, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Gilded with flashing boats | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| That bring no friend to me: | 6 | ······ |
| O love-songs, gurgling from a hundred throats, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O love-pangs, let me be. | 6 | ······ |
| Fair fall the freighted boats which gold and stone | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And spices bear to sea: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Slim, gleaming maidens swell their mellow notes, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Love-promising, entreating-- | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Ah! sweet, but fleeting-- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Beneath the shivering, snow-white sails. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hush! the wind flags and fails-- | 6 | ······ |
| Hush! they will lie becalmed in sight of strand-- | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Sight of my strand, where I do dwell alone; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Their songs wake singing echoes in my land-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| They cannot hear me moan. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| One latest, solitary swallow flies | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Across the sea, rough autumn-tempest tossed, | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| Poor bird, shall it be lost? | 6 | ······ |
| Dropped down into this uncongenial sea, | 10 | ·········· |
| With no kind eyes | 4 | ···· |
| To watch it while it dies, | 6 | ······ |
| Unguessed, uncared for, free: | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Set free at last, | 4 | ···· |
| The short pang past, | 4 | ···· |
| In sleep, in death, in dreamless sleep locked fast. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Mine avenue is all a growth of oaks, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Some rent by thunder strokes, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Some rustling leaves and acorns in the breeze; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Fair fall my fertile trees, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That rear their goodly heads, and live at ease. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A spider's web blocks all mine avenue; | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
| He catches down and foolish painted flies | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| That spider wary and wise. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Each morn it hangs a rainbow strung with dew | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Betwixt boughs green with sap, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| So fair, few creatures guess it is a trap: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I will not mar the web, | 6 | ······ |
| Though sad I am to see the small lives ebb. | 10 | ·········· |
| It shakes--my trees shake--for a wind is roused | 10 | ·········· |
| In cavern where it housed: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Each white and quivering sail, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Of boats among the water leaves | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hollows and strains in the full-throated gale: | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Each maiden sings again-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Each languid maiden, whom the calm | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Had lulled to sleep with rest and spice and balm | 10 | ·········· |
| Miles down my river to the sea | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They float and wane, | 4 | ···· |
| Long miles away from me. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Perhaps they say: 'She grieves, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Uplifted, like a beacon, on her tower.' | 9 | /˘··/˘··/ |
| Perhaps they say: 'One hour | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| More, and we dance among the golden sheaves.' | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Perhaps they say: 'One hour | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| More, and we stand, | 4 | ···· |
| Face to face, hand in hand; | 6 | ······ |
| Make haste, O slack gale, to the looked-for land!' | 10 | ·········· |
| My trees are not in flower, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I have no bower, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And gusty creaks my tower, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And lonesome, very lonesome, is my strand. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
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.