A Winter Scene
The rabbit leaps,The mouse out-creeps,The flag out-peepsBeside the brook;The ferret weeps,The marmot sleeps,The owlet keepsIn his snug nook.
The apples thaw,The ravens caw,The squirrels gnawThe frozen fruit.To their retreatI track the feetOf mice that eatThe apple’s root.
The snow-dust falls,The otter crawls,The partridge calls,Far in the wood.The traveller dreams,The tree-ice gleams,The blue-jay screamsIn angry mood.
The willows droop,The alders stoop,The pheasants groupBeneath the snow.The catkins greenCast o’er the sceneA summer’s sheen,A genial glow.
Words in this poem
- owlet n.
- A small owl; especially, the European species (Athene noctua), and the California flammulated owlet (Megascops flammeolus). Owlet moth (Zoöl.), any noctuid moth. [Dim. of owl. Cf. Howlet.]
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- thaw v. i.
- To melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften; -- said of that which is frozen; as, the ice thaws.
- otter n.
- Any carnivorous animal of the genus Lutra, and related genera. [OE. oter, AS. Otor; akin to D. & G. otter, Icel. otr, Dan. odder, Sw. utter, Lith. udra, Russ, vuidra, Gr. udra otter, and also to E. water. Water, and cf. Hydr]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Winter Scene is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Nature, Project Gutenberg ebook #59988; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry David Thoreau, A Winter Scene, in Poems of Nature (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59988, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thoreau-poems/a-winter-scene.html, id L02830.
Form and metre
A Winter Scene is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABCCCB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.0 syllables. 31% 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 AAABAAAB leapsA · creepsA · peepsA · brookB · weepsA · sleepsA · keepsA · nookB
- 2 AAABCCCB thawA · cawA · gnawA · fruitB · retreatC · feetC · eatC · rootB
- 3 AAA-BBB- fallsA · crawlsA · callsA · wood · dreamsB · gleamsB · screamsB · mood
- 4 AAABCCCB droopA · stoopA · groupA · snowB · greenC · sceneC · sheenC · glowB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The rabbit leaps, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The mouse out-creeps, | 4 | ···· |
| The flag out-peeps | 4 | ···· |
| Beside the brook; | 4 | ˘/·· |
| The ferret weeps, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The marmot sleeps, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The owlet keeps | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In his snug nook. | 4 | ···· |
| The apples thaw, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The ravens caw, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The squirrels gnaw | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The frozen fruit. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To their retreat | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I track the feet | 4 | ···· |
| Of mice that eat | 4 | ···· |
| The apple’s root. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The snow-dust falls, | 4 | ···· |
| The otter crawls, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The partridge calls, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Far in the wood. | 4 | ···· |
| The traveller dreams, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| The tree-ice gleams, | 4 | ···· |
| The blue-jay screams | 4 | ···· |
| In angry mood. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The willows droop, | 4 | ·/·· |
| The alders stoop, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The pheasants group | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Beneath the snow. | 4 | ···· |
| The catkins green | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Cast o’er the scene | 4 | ···· |
| A summer’s sheen, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A genial glow. | 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.