Red Maples
In the last year I have learnedHow few men are worth my trust;I have seen the friend I lovedStruck by death into the dust,And fears I never knew beforeHave knocked and knocked upon my door--"I shall hope little and ask for less,"I said, "There is no happiness."
I have grown wise at last--but howCan I hide the gleam on the willow-bough,Or keep the fragrance out of the rainNow that April is here again?When maples stand in a haze of fireWhat can I say to the old desire,What shall I do with the joy in meThat is born out of agony?
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Red Maples is in the public domain. This text is taken from Flame and Shadow, Project Gutenberg ebook #591; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sara Teasdale, Red Maples, in Flame and Shadow (1920), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/teasdale-flame-shadow/red-maples.html, id L17028.
Form and metre
Red Maples is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 -A-ABBCC learned · trustA · loved · dustA · beforeB · doorB · lessC · happinessC
- 2 AABBCC-- howA · boughA · rainB · againB · fireC · desireC · me · agony
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the last year I have learned | 8 | ·······˘ |
| How few men are worth my trust; | 7 | ······· |
| I have seen the friend I loved | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Struck by death into the dust, | 7 | ······· |
| And fears I never knew before | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Have knocked and knocked upon my door-- | 8 | ········ |
| "I shall hope little and ask for less," | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I said, "There is no happiness." | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I have grown wise at last--but how | 8 | ········ |
| Can I hide the gleam on the willow-bough, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Or keep the fragrance out of the rain | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Now that April is here again? | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| When maples stand in a haze of fire | 9 | ·/˘·····/ |
| What can I say to the old desire, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| What shall I do with the joy in me | 9 | ········· |
| That is born out of agony? | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
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.