Fragment 4
'Twas at the season when the Earth upspringsFrom slumber, as a sphered angel's child,Shadowing its eyes with green and golden wings,
Stands up before its mother bright and mild,Of whose soft voice the air expectant seems--So stood before the sun, which shone and smiled
To see it rise thus joyous from its dreams,The fresh and radiant Earth. The hoary groveWaxed green--and flowers burst forth like starry beams;--
The grass in the warm sun did start and move,And sea-buds burst under the waves serene:--How many a one, though none be near to love,
Loves then the shade of his own soul, half seenIn any mirror--or the spring's young minions,The winged leaves amid the copses green;--
How many a spirit then puts on the pinionsOf fancy, and outstrips the lagging blast,And his own steps--and over wide dominions
Sweeps in his dream-drawn chariot, far and fast,More fleet than storms--the wide world shrinks below,When winter and despondency are past.
Words in this poem
- shadowing n.
- Shade, or gradation of light and color; shading. Feltham.
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fragment 4 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #4797; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Fragment 4, in Alastor, and Other Poems (1813–1820), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4797, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-poems/fragment-4.html, id L00220.
Form and metre
Fragment 4 is 21 lines in 7 stanzas of 3 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABA upspringsA · childB · wingsA
- 2 BCB mildB · seemsC · smiledB
- 3 C-C dreamsC · grove · beamsC
- 4 -D- move · sereneD · love
- 5 DED seenD · minionsE · greenD
- 6 EFE pinionsE · blastF · dominionsE
- 7 F-F fastF · below · pastF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twas at the season when the Earth upsprings | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| From slumber, as a sphered angel's child, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Shadowing its eyes with green and golden wings, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Stands up before its mother bright and mild, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of whose soft voice the air expectant seems-- | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| So stood before the sun, which shone and smiled | 10 | ·········· |
| To see it rise thus joyous from its dreams, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The fresh and radiant Earth. The hoary grove | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Waxed green--and flowers burst forth like starry beams;-- | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| The grass in the warm sun did start and move, | 10 | ·········· |
| And sea-buds burst under the waves serene:-- | 10 | ········˘/ |
| How many a one, though none be near to love, | 10 | ·/········ |
| Loves then the shade of his own soul, half seen | 10 | ·········· |
| In any mirror--or the spring's young minions, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| The winged leaves amid the copses green;-- | 10 | ··˘·˘/·/˘· |
| How many a spirit then puts on the pinions | 11 | ·/·/˘····/˘ |
| Of fancy, and outstrips the lagging blast, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And his own steps--and over wide dominions | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Sweeps in his dream-drawn chariot, far and fast, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| More fleet than storms--the wide world shrinks below, | 10 | ·········· |
| When winter and despondency are past. | 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.