May
I cannot tell you how it was;But this I know: it came to passUpon a bright and breezy dayWhen May was young; ah, pleasant May!As yet the poppies were not bornBetween the blades of tender corn;The last eggs had not hatched as yet,Nor any bird forgone its mate.
I cannot tell you what it was;But this I know: it did but pass.It passed away with sunny May,With all sweet things it passed away,And left me old, and cold, and grey.
Words in this poem
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
May 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, May, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/may.html, id L04261.
Form and metre
May is 13 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 23% 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 --AABB-- was · pass · dayA · mayA · bornB · cornB · yet · mate
- 2 --AAA was · pass · mayA · awayA · greyA
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 cannot tell you how it was; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But this I know: it came to pass | 8 | ········ |
| Upon a bright and breezy day | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When May was young; ah, pleasant May! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As yet the poppies were not born | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Between the blades of tender corn; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The last eggs had not hatched as yet, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor any bird forgone its mate. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| I cannot tell you what it was; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But this I know: it did but pass. | 8 | ········ |
| It passed away with sunny May, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| With all sweet things it passed away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And left me old, and cold, and grey. | 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.