Stanzas Written at Walden
When Winter fringes every boughWith his fantastic wreath,And puts the seal of silence nowUpon the leaves beneath;
When every stream in its pent-houseGoes gurgling on its way,And in his gallery the mouseNibbleth the meadow hay;
Methinks the summer still is nigh,And lurketh underneath,As that same meadow-mouse doth lieSnug in that last year’s heath.
And if perchance the chicadeeLisp a faint note anon,The snow is summer’s canopy,Which she herself put on.
Fair blossoms deck the cheerful trees,And dazzling fruits depend;The north wind sighs a summer breeze,The nipping frosts to fend,
Bringing glad tidings unto me,The while I stand all ear,Of a serene eternity,Which need not winter fear.
Out on the silent pond straightwayThe restless ice doth crack,And pond-sprites merry gambols playAmid the deafening rack.
Eager I hasten to the vale,As if I heard brave news,How Nature held high festival,Which it were hard to lose.
I gambol with my neighbor ice,And sympathising quake,As each new crack darts in a triceAcross the gladsome lake.
One with the cricket in the ground,And fagot on the hearth,Resounds the rare domestic soundAlong the forest path.
Words in this poem
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- lisp v. i.
- To pronounce the sibilant letter s imperfectly; to give s and z the sound of th; -- a defect common among children. [OE. lispen, lipsen, AS. wlisp stammering, lisping; akin to D. & OHG. lispen to lisp, G. lispeln, Sw. läspa, Dan. lespe.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- fend v. t.
- To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward off; to shut out; -- often with off; as, to fend off blows. [Abbrev. fr. defend.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- deafening n.
- The act or process of rendering impervious to sound, as a floor or wall; also, the material with which the spaces are filled in this process; pugging.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
- trice v. t.
- To pull; to haul; to drag; to pull away. [OE. trisen; of Scand. or Low German origin; cf. Sw. trissa a sheave, pulley, triss a spritsail brace, Dan. tridse a pulley, tridse to haul by means of a pulley,]
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas Written at Walden 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, Stanzas Written at Walden, in Poems of Nature (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59988, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thoreau-poems/stanzas-written-at-walden.html, id L02828.
Form and metre
Stanzas Written at Walden is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB boughA · wreathB · nowA · beneathB
- 2 ABAB houseA · wayB · mouseA · hayB
- 3 ABAB nighA · underneathB · lieA · heathB
- 5 ABAB treesA · dependB · breezeA · fendB
- 6 -A-A me · earA · eternity · fearA
- 7 ABAB straightwayA · crackB · playA · rackB
- 8 ABAB valeA · newsB · festivalA · loseB
- 9 ABAB iceA · quakeB · triceA · lakeB
- 10 A-A- groundA · hearth · soundA · path
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When Winter fringes every bough | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| With his fantastic wreath, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And puts the seal of silence now | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon the leaves beneath; | 6 | ······ |
| When every stream in its pent-house | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Goes gurgling on its way, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And in his gallery the mouse | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Nibbleth the meadow hay; | 7 | /˘˘·/·· |
| Methinks the summer still is nigh, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And lurketh underneath, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| As that same meadow-mouse doth lie | 8 | ···/···· |
| Snug in that last year’s heath. | 6 | ······ |
| And if perchance the chicadee | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Lisp a faint note anon, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The snow is summer’s canopy, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Which she herself put on. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Fair blossoms deck the cheerful trees, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And dazzling fruits depend; | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| The north wind sighs a summer breeze, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The nipping frosts to fend, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Bringing glad tidings unto me, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| The while I stand all ear, | 6 | ······ |
| Of a serene eternity, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Which need not winter fear. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Out on the silent pond straightway | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| The restless ice doth crack, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And pond-sprites merry gambols play | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Amid the deafening rack. | 7 | ˘/·/˘˘· |
| Eager I hasten to the vale, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| As if I heard brave news, | 6 | ······ |
| How Nature held high festival, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Which it were hard to lose. | 6 | ······ |
| I gambol with my neighbor ice, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And sympathising quake, | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| As each new crack darts in a trice | 8 | ········ |
| Across the gladsome lake. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| One with the cricket in the ground, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And fagot on the hearth, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Resounds the rare domestic sound | 8 | ·/··˘/˘· |
| Along the forest path. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
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.