Spring
In April's gilded morn when south winds blow,And gently shake the hawthorn's silver crown,Wafting its scent the forest-glade adown,The dewy shelter of the bounding Doe,Then, under trees, soft tufts of primrose showTheir palely-yellowing flowers;--to the moist SunBlue harebells peep, while cowslips stand unblown,Plighted to riper May;--and lavish flowThe Lark's loud carols in the wilds of air.O! not to Nature's glad Enthusiast clingAvarice, and pride.--Thro' her now blooming sphereCharm'd as he roves, his thoughts enraptur'd springTo HIM, who gives frail Man's appointed timeThese cheering hours of promise, and of prime.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spring is in the public domain. This text is taken from Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace, Project Gutenberg ebook #27663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anna Seward, Spring, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/spring.html, id L09787.
Form and metre
Spring is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG blowA · crownB · adownA · doeB · showC · sunD · unblownC · flowD · airE · clingF · sphereE · springF · timeG · primeG
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In April's gilded morn when south winds blow, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And gently shake the hawthorn's silver crown, | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| Wafting its scent the forest-glade adown, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| The dewy shelter of the bounding Doe, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Then, under trees, soft tufts of primrose show | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Their palely-yellowing flowers;--to the moist Sun | 10 | ·/˘/˘/···· |
| Blue harebells peep, while cowslips stand unblown, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Plighted to riper May;--and lavish flow | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| The Lark's loud carols in the wilds of air. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| O! not to Nature's glad Enthusiast cling | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘·· |
| Avarice, and pride.--Thro' her now blooming sphere | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Charm'd as he roves, his thoughts enraptur'd spring | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| To HIM, who gives frail Man's appointed time | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| These cheering hours of promise, and of prime. | 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.