By the Wayside
Summer's face was rosiest, skies and woods were mellow,Earth had heaven to friend, and heaven had earth to fellow,When we met where wooded hills and meadows meet.Autumn's face is pale, and all her late leaves yellow,Now that here again we greet.
Wan with years whereof this eightieth nears December,Fair and bright with love, the kind old face I knowShines above the sweet small twain whose eyes rememberHeaven, and fill with April's light this pale November,Though the dark year's glass run low.
Like a rose whose joy of life her silence uttersWhen the birds are loud, and low the lulled wind mutters,Grave and silent shines the boy nigh three years old.Wise and sweet his smile, that falters not nor flutters,Glows, and turns the gloom to gold.
Like the new-born sun's that strikes the dark and slays it,So that even for love of light it smiles and dies,Laughs the boy's blithe face whose fair fourth year arrays itAll with light of life and mirth that stirs and sways itAnd fulfils the deep wide eyes.
Wide and warm with glowing laughter's exultation,Full of welcome, full of sunbright jubilation,Flash my taller friend's quick eyebeams, charged with glee;But with softer still and sweeter salutationShine my smaller friend's on me.
Little arms flung round my bending neck, that yoke itFast in tender bondage, draw my face down tooToward the flower-soft face whose dumb deep smiles invoke it;Dumb, but love can read the radiant eyes that woke it,Blue as June's mid heaven is blue.
How may men find refuge, how should hearts be shielded,From the weapons thus by little children wielded,When they lift such eyes as light this lustrous face--Eyes that woke love sleeping unawares, and yieldedLove for love, a gift of grace,
Grace beyond man's merit, love that laughs, forgivingEven the sin of being no more a child, nor worthTrust and love that lavish gifts above man's giving,Touch or glance of eyes and lips the sweetest living,Fair as heaven and kind as earth?
Words in this poem
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- eightieth a.
- The next in order after seventy-ninth. [From Eighty.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- jubilation n.
- A triumphant shouting; rejoicing; exultation. [L. jubilatio: cf. F. jubilation.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- forgiving a.
- Disposed to forgive; inclined to overlook offenses; mild; merciful; compassionate; placable; as, a forgiving temper.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
By the Wayside is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Ballads (Third Series) Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne—Vol. III, Project Gutenberg ebook #18726; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Algernon Charles Swinburne, By the Wayside, in Poems and Ballads (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swinburne-poems-ballads/by-the-wayside.html, id L26159.
Form and metre
By the Wayside is 40 lines in 8 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABAB, complete in 4 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic hexameter.
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 AABAB mellowA · fellowA · meetB · yellowA · greetB
- 2 ABAAB decemberA · knowB · rememberA · novemberA · lowB
- 3 AABAB uttersA · muttersA · oldB · fluttersA · goldB
- 4 ABAAB itA · diesB · itA · itA · eyesB
- 5 AABAB exultationA · jubilationA · gleeB · salutationA · meB
- 6 ABAAB itA · tooB · itA · itA · blueB
- 7 AABAB shieldedA · wieldedA · faceB · yieldedA · graceB
- 8 ABAAB forgivingA · worthB · givingA · livingA · earthB
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 trochaic hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Summer's face was rosiest, skies and woods were mellow, | 13 | /˘··/˘˘····/˘ |
| Earth had heaven to friend, and heaven had earth to fellow, | 13 | ··/···/˘···/˘ |
| When we met where wooded hills and meadows meet. | 11 | ····/˘··/·· |
| Autumn's face is pale, and all her late leaves yellow, | 12 | /˘········/˘ |
| Now that here again we greet. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Wan with years whereof this eightieth nears December, | 13 | ······/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Fair and bright with love, the kind old face I know | 11 | ··········· |
| Shines above the sweet small twain whose eyes remember | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| Heaven, and fill with April's light this pale November, | 13 | /˘···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Though the dark year's glass run low. | 7 | ······· |
| Like a rose whose joy of life her silence utters | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| When the birds are loud, and low the lulled wind mutters, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Grave and silent shines the boy nigh three years old. | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Wise and sweet his smile, that falters not nor flutters, | 12 | ······/˘··/˘ |
| Glows, and turns the gloom to gold. | 7 | ······· |
| Like the new-born sun's that strikes the dark and slays it, | 12 | ············ |
| So that even for love of light it smiles and dies, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Laughs the boy's blithe face whose fair fourth year arrays it | 12 | ·········˘/· |
| All with light of life and mirth that stirs and sways it | 12 | ············ |
| And fulfils the deep wide eyes. | 7 | ······· |
| Wide and warm with glowing laughter's exultation, | 12 | ····/˘/˘···· |
| Full of welcome, full of sunbright jubilation, | 12 | ··/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Flash my taller friend's quick eyebeams, charged with glee; | 12 | ··/˘·····˘·· |
| But with softer still and sweeter salutation | 12 | ··/˘··/˘···· |
| Shine my smaller friend's on me. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Little arms flung round my bending neck, that yoke it | 12 | /˘····/˘···· |
| Fast in tender bondage, draw my face down too | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Toward the flower-soft face whose dumb deep smiles invoke it; | 13 | ···/······˘/· |
| Dumb, but love can read the radiant eyes that woke it, | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| Blue as June's mid heaven is blue. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| How may men find refuge, how should hearts be shielded, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| From the weapons thus by little children wielded, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| When they lift such eyes as light this lustrous face-- | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Eyes that woke love sleeping unawares, and yielded | 12 | ····/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Love for love, a gift of grace, | 7 | ······· |
| Grace beyond man's merit, love that laughs, forgiving | 12 | ····/˘···˘/˘ |
| Even the sin of being no more a child, nor worth | 12 | /···/˘······ |
| Trust and love that lavish gifts above man's giving, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| Touch or glance of eyes and lips the sweetest living, | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Fair as heaven and kind as earth? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
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