A November Daisy
Afterthought of summer's bloom!Late arrival at the feast,Coming when the songs have ceasedAnd the merry guests departed,Leaving but an empty room,Silence, solitude, and gloom,--Are you lonely, heavy-hearted;You, the last of all your kind,Nodding in the autumn-wind;Now that all your friends are flown,Blooming late and all alone?
Nay, I wrong you, little flower,Reading mournful mood of mineIn your looks, that give no signOf a spirit dark and cheerless!You possess the heavenly powerThat rejoices in the hour.Glad, contented, free, and fearless,Lift a sunny face to heavenWhen a sunny day is given!Make a summer of your own,Blooming late and all alone!
Once the daisies gold and whiteSea-like through the meadow rolled:Once my heart could hardly holdAll its pleasures. I remember,In the flood of youth's delightSeparate joys were lost to sight.That was summer! Now NovemberSets the perfect flower apart;Gives each blossom of the heartMeaning, beauty, grace unknown,--Blooming late and all alone.
Words in this poem
- afterthought n.
- Reflection after an act; later or subsequent thought or expedient.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A November Daisy is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, A November Daisy, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/a-november-daisy.html, id L22764.
Form and metre
A November Daisy is 33 lines in 3 stanzas of 11 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBCAACDDEE, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABBCAACDDEE bloomA · feastB · ceasedB · departedC · roomA · gloomA · heartedC · kindD · windD · flownE · aloneE
- 2 ABBCAACDDDD flowerA · mineB · signB · cheerlessC · powerA · hourA · fearlessC · heavenD · givenD · ownD · aloneD
- 3 ABBCAACDDEE whiteA · rolledB · holdB · rememberC · delightA · sightA · novemberC · apartD · heartD · unknownE · aloneE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Afterthought of summer's bloom! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Late arrival at the feast, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Coming when the songs have ceased | 7 | /˘····· |
| And the merry guests departed, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Leaving but an empty room, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Silence, solitude, and gloom,-- | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Are you lonely, heavy-hearted; | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| You, the last of all your kind, | 7 | ······· |
| Nodding in the autumn-wind; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Now that all your friends are flown, | 7 | ······· |
| Blooming late and all alone? | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Nay, I wrong you, little flower, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Reading mournful mood of mine | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| In your looks, that give no sign | 7 | ······· |
| Of a spirit dark and cheerless! | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| You possess the heavenly power | 7 | ·˘/·/˘/ |
| That rejoices in the hour. | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Glad, contented, free, and fearless, | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Lift a sunny face to heaven | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| When a sunny day is given! | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Make a summer of your own, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blooming late and all alone! | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Once the daisies gold and white | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sea-like through the meadow rolled: | 7 | ····/·· |
| Once my heart could hardly hold | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All its pleasures. I remember, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| In the flood of youth's delight | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Separate joys were lost to sight. | 8 | /˘······ |
| That was summer! Now November | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Sets the perfect flower apart; | 7 | ··/·/˘/ |
| Gives each blossom of the heart | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Meaning, beauty, grace unknown,-- | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Blooming late and all alone. | 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.