The Hawthorn Tree
Not much to me is yonder laneWhere I go every day;But when there's been a shower of rainAnd hedge-birds whistle gay,I know my lad that's out in FranceWith fearsome things to seeWould give his eyes for just one glanceAt our white hawthorn tree.Not much to me is yonder laneWhere he so longs to tread;But when there's been a shower of rainI think I'll never weep againUntil I've heard he's dead.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- fearsome a.
- Frightful; causing fear
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Hawthorn Tree is in the public domain. This text is taken from Counter-Attack and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8930; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Siegfried Sassoon, The Hawthorn Tree, in Counter-Attack and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8930, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sassoon-counter-attack/the-hawthorn-tree.html, id L04706.
Form and metre
The Hawthorn Tree is 13 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDAEAAE. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 62% 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 ABABCDCDAEAAE laneA · dayB · rainA · gayB · franceC · seeD · glanceC · treeD · laneA · treadE · rainA · againA · deadE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much to me is yonder lane | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where I go every day; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| But when there's been a shower of rain | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And hedge-birds whistle gay, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I know my lad that's out in France | 8 | ········ |
| With fearsome things to see | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Would give his eyes for just one glance | 8 | ········ |
| At our white hawthorn tree. | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| Not much to me is yonder lane | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where he so longs to tread; | 6 | ······ |
| But when there's been a shower of rain | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I think I'll never weep again | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Until I've heard he's dead. | 6 | ······ |
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.