Later Poems

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) · 1925

iambic dimeter · 22 lines · from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke

When Tulips BloomThe Whip-Poor-WillThe Lily of YorrowThe VeeryThe Song-SparrowThe Maryland Yellow-ThroatA November DaisyThe Angler's ReveilleThe Ruby-Crowned KingletSchoolIndian SummerSpring in the NorthSpring in the SouthA Noon SongLight Between the TreesThe Hermit ThrushTurn o' the TideSierra MadreThe Grand CanyonThe Heavenly Hills of HollandFlood-Tide of FlowersGod of the Open Air

Words in this poem

veery n.
An American thrush (Turdus fuscescens) common in the Northern United States and Canada. It is light tawny brown above. The breast is pale buff, thickly spotted with brown. Called also Wilson's thrush.
reveille n.
The beat of drum, or bugle blast, about break of day, to give notice that it is time for the soldiers to rise, and for the sentinels to forbear challenging. [F. réveil, fr. réveiller to awake; pref. re- re- + pref. es- (L. ex) + veiller to awake, watch, L. vigilare to watch. The English form was prob. taken by mistak]
kinglet n.
A little king; a weak or insignificant king. Carlyle.
sierra n.
A ridge of mountain and craggy rocks, with a serrated or irregular outline; as, the Sierra Nevada. [Sp., properly, a saw, fr. L. serra a saw. See Serrate.]
canyon n.
The English form of the Spanish word Cañon.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Later Poems 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, Later Poems, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/later-poems.html, id L22735.

Form and metre

Later Poems is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).

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.

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.

LineSyl.Stress
When Tulips Bloom4·/˘·
The Whip-Poor-Will4····
The Lily of Yorrow6·/˘···
The Veery3·/˘
The Song-Sparrow4··/˘
The Maryland Yellow-Throat7·/˘˘/˘·
A November Daisy6·˘/˘/˘
The Angler's Reveille6·/˘˘/˘
The Ruby-Crowned Kinglet6·/˘·/˘
School1·
Indian Summer5/˘˘/˘
Spring in the North4····
Spring in the South4····
A Noon Song3···
Light Between the Trees5·····
The Hermit Thrush4·/˘·
Turn o' the Tide4····
Sierra Madre5˘/˘/·
The Grand Canyon4··/˘
The Heavenly Hills of Holland8·/˘˘··/˘
Flood-Tide of Flowers5···/˘
God of the Open Air6···/˘·

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.

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