The Mulberry-Gatherer
In the summer's burning heat,When the flowers were blooming sweet,I had chosen, as 'twas meet,'Neath an olive bough my seat;Languid with the glowing day,Lazy, careless, apt for play.
Stood the tree in fields where grewPainted flowers of every hue,Grass that flourished with the dew,Fresh with shade where breezes blew;Plato, with his style so rare,Could not paint a spot more fair.
Runs a babbling brook hard by,Chants the nightingale on high;Water-nymphs with song reply."Sure, 'tis Paradise," I cry;For I know not any placeOf a sweeter, fresher grace.
While I take my solace here,And in solace find good cheer,Shade from summer, coolness dear,Comes a shepherd maiden near--Fairer, sure, there breathes not now--Plucking mulberries from the bough.
Seeing her, I loved her there:Venus did the trick, I'll swear!"Come, I am no thief, to scare,Rob, or murder unaware;I and all I have are thine,Thou than Flora more divine!"
But the girl made answer then:"Never played I yet with men;Cruel to me are my kin:My old mother scolds me whenIn some little thing I stray:--Hold, I prithee, sir, to-day!"
Words in this poem
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
- flora n.
- The goddess of flowers and spring. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.]
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Mulberry-Gatherer is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #18044; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Addington Symonds, The Mulberry-Gatherer, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/the-mulberry-gatherer.html, id L11832.
Form and metre
The Mulberry-Gatherer is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAAABB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 AAAABB heatA · sweetA · meetA · seatA · dayB · playB
- 2 AAAABB grewA · hueA · dewA · blewA · rareB · fairB
- 3 AAAABB byA · highA · replyA · cryA · placeB · graceB
- 4 AAAABB hereA · cheerA · dearA · nearA · nowB · boughB
- 5 AAAABB thereA · swearA · scareA · unawareA · thineB · divineB
- 6 AA-ABB thenA · menA · kin · whenA · strayB · dayB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the summer's burning heat, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| When the flowers were blooming sweet, | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| I had chosen, as 'twas meet, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Neath an olive bough my seat; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Languid with the glowing day, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Lazy, careless, apt for play. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Stood the tree in fields where grew | 7 | ······· |
| Painted flowers of every hue, | 7 | /˘/·/˘· |
| Grass that flourished with the dew, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fresh with shade where breezes blew; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Plato, with his style so rare, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Could not paint a spot more fair. | 7 | ······· |
| Runs a babbling brook hard by, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Chants the nightingale on high; | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Water-nymphs with song reply. | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| "Sure, 'tis Paradise," I cry; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For I know not any place | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of a sweeter, fresher grace. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| While I take my solace here, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And in solace find good cheer, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Shade from summer, coolness dear, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Comes a shepherd maiden near-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Fairer, sure, there breathes not now-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Plucking mulberries from the bough. | 8 | /˘/·˘··· |
| Seeing her, I loved her there: | 7 | /˘····· |
| Venus did the trick, I'll swear! | 7 | /˘····· |
| "Come, I am no thief, to scare, | 7 | ······· |
| Rob, or murder unaware; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| I and all I have are thine, | 7 | ······· |
| Thou than Flora more divine!" | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| But the girl made answer then: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Never played I yet with men; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Cruel to me are my kin: | 7 | /˘····· |
| My old mother scolds me when | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In some little thing I stray:-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Hold, I prithee, sir, to-day!" | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.