Child's Talk in April
I wish you were a pleasant wren,And I your small accepted mate;How we'd look down on toilsome men!We'd rise and go to bed at eightOr it may be not quite so late.
Then you should see the nest I'd build,The wondrous nest for you and me;The outside rough perhaps, but filledWith wool and down; ah, you should seeThe cosy nest that it would be.
We'd have our change of hope and fear,Small quarrels, reconcilements sweet:I'd perch by you to chirp and cheer,Or hop about on active feet,And fetch you dainty bits to eat.
We'd be so happy by the day,So safe and happy through the night,We both should feel, and I should say,It's all one season of delight,And we'll make merry whilst we may.
Perhaps some day there'd be an eggWhen spring had blossomed from the snow:I'd stand triumphant on one leg;Like chanticleer I'd almost crowTo let our little neighbours know.
Next you should sit and I would singThrough lengthening days of sunny spring;Till, if you wearied of the task,I'd sit; and you should spread your wingFrom bough to bough; I'd sit and bask.
Fancy the breaking of the shell,The chirp, the chickens wet and bare,The untried proud paternal swell;And you with housewife-matron airEnacting choicer bills of fare.
Fancy the embryo coats of down,The gradual feathers soft and sleek;Till clothed and strong from tail to crown,With virgin warblings in their beak,They too go forth to soar and seek.
So would it last an April throughAnd early summer fresh with dew:Then should we part and live as twain,Love-time would bring me back to youAnd build our happy nest again.
Words in this poem
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- 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.]
- chanticleer n.
- A cock, so called from the clearness or loundness of his voice in crowing. [F. Chanteclair, name of the cock in the Roman du Renart (Reynard the Fox); chanter to chant + clair clear. See Chant, and Clear.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- bask v. i.
- To lie in warmth; to be exposed to genial heat. [OScand. ba to bathe one's self, or perh. bakask to bake one's self, sk being reflexive. See Bath, n., Bake, v. t.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Child's Talk in April 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, Child's Talk in April, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/child-s-talk-in-april.html, id L04331.
Form and metre
Child's Talk in April is 45 lines in 9 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 22% 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 ABABB wrenA · mateB · menA · eightB · lateB
- 2 ABABB buildA · meB · filledA · seeB · beB
- 3 ABABB fearA · sweetB · cheerA · feetB · eatB
- 4 ABABA dayA · nightB · sayA · delightB · mayA
- 5 ABABB eggA · snowB · legA · crowB · knowB
- 6 AABAB singA · springA · taskB · wingA · baskB
- 7 ABABB shellA · bareB · swellA · airB · fareB
- 8 ABABB downA · sleekB · crownA · beakB · seekB
- 9 AABAB throughA · dewA · twainB · youA · againB
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 wish you were a pleasant wren, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And I your small accepted mate; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| How we'd look down on toilsome men! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We'd rise and go to bed at eight | 8 | ········ |
| Or it may be not quite so late. | 8 | ········ |
| Then you should see the nest I'd build, | 8 | ········ |
| The wondrous nest for you and me; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The outside rough perhaps, but filled | 8 | ·//·˘/·· |
| With wool and down; ah, you should see | 8 | ········ |
| The cosy nest that it would be. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We'd have our change of hope and fear, | 8 | ··/····· |
| Small quarrels, reconcilements sweet: | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I'd perch by you to chirp and cheer, | 8 | ········ |
| Or hop about on active feet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And fetch you dainty bits to eat. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We'd be so happy by the day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So safe and happy through the night, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We both should feel, and I should say, | 8 | ········ |
| It's all one season of delight, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And we'll make merry whilst we may. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Perhaps some day there'd be an egg | 8 | ˘/······ |
| When spring had blossomed from the snow: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I'd stand triumphant on one leg; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Like chanticleer I'd almost crow | 8 | ·/˘˘·/·· |
| To let our little neighbours know. | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| Next you should sit and I would sing | 8 | ········ |
| Through lengthening days of sunny spring; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till, if you wearied of the task, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I'd sit; and you should spread your wing | 8 | ········ |
| From bough to bough; I'd sit and bask. | 8 | ········ |
| Fancy the breaking of the shell, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| The chirp, the chickens wet and bare, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The untried proud paternal swell; | 8 | ·˘/·˘/˘· |
| And you with housewife-matron air | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Enacting choicer bills of fare. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Fancy the embryo coats of down, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| The gradual feathers soft and sleek; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Till clothed and strong from tail to crown, | 8 | ········ |
| With virgin warblings in their beak, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| They too go forth to soar and seek. | 8 | ········ |
| So would it last an April through | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And early summer fresh with dew: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Then should we part and live as twain, | 8 | ········ |
| Love-time would bring me back to you | 8 | ········ |
| And build our happy nest again. | 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.