Bright Clouds
BRIGHT clouds of mayShade half the pond.Beyond,All but one bayOf emeraldTall reedsLike criss-cross bayonetsWhere a bird once called,Lies bright as the sun.No one heeds.The light wind fretsAnd drifts the scumOf may-blossom.Till the moorhen callsAgainNaught's to be doneBy birds or men.Still the may falls.
About this text
Bright Clouds is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22423; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edward Thomas, Bright Clouds, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/bright-clouds.html, id L08165.
Form and metre
Bright Clouds is 18 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDECFDEGGHIFIH. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 3.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 56% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 ABBACDECFDEGGHIFIH mayA · pondB · beyondB · bayA · emeraldC · reedsD · bayonetsE · calledC · sunF · heedsD · fretsE · scumG · blossomG · callsH · againI · doneF · menI · fallsH
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| BRIGHT clouds of may | 4 | ···· |
| Shade half the pond. | 4 | ···· |
| Beyond, | 2 | ·· |
| All but one bay | 4 | ···· |
| Of emerald | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Tall reeds | 2 | ·· |
| Like criss-cross bayonets | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where a bird once called, | 5 | ····· |
| Lies bright as the sun. | 5 | ····· |
| No one heeds. | 3 | ··· |
| The light wind frets | 4 | ···· |
| And drifts the scum | 4 | ···· |
| Of may-blossom. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Till the moorhen calls | 5 | ····· |
| Again | 2 | ˘/ |
| Naught's to be done | 4 | ···· |
| By birds or men. | 4 | ···· |
| Still the may falls. | 4 | ···· |
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.