The Maryland Yellow-Throat
When May bedecks the naked treesWith tassels and embroideries,And many blue-eyed violets beamAlong the edges of the stream,I hear a voice that seems to say,Now near at hand, now far away,"Witchery--witchery--witchery."
An incantation so serene,So innocent, befits the scene:There's magic in that small bird's note--See, there he flits--the Yellow-throat;A living sunbeam, tipped with wings,A spark of light that shines and sings"Witchery--witchery--witchery."
You prophet with a pleasant name,If out of Mary-land you came,You know the way that thither goesWhere Mary's lovely garden grows:Fly swiftly back to her, I pray,And try to call her down this way,"Witchery--witchery--witchery!"
Tell her to leave her cockle-shells,And all her little silver bellsThat blossom into melody,And all her maids less fair than she.She does not need these pretty things,For everywhere she comes, she brings"Witchery--witchery--witchery!"
The woods are greening overhead,And flowers adorn each mossy bed;The waters babble as they run--One thing is lacking, only one:If Mary were but here to-day,I would believe your charming lay,"Witchery--witchery--witchery!"
Along the shady road I look--Who's coming now across the brook?A woodland maid, all robed in white--The leaves dance round her with delight,The stream laughs out beneath her feet--Sing, merry bird, the charm's complete,"Witchery--witchery--witchery!"
Words in this poem
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- greening n.
- A greenish apple, of several varieties, among which the Rhode Island greening is the best known for its fine-grained acid flesh and its excellent keeping quality.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Maryland Yellow-Throat 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, The Maryland Yellow-Throat, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-maryland-yellow-throat.html, id L22763.
Form and metre
The Maryland Yellow-Throat is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 81% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic 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 AABBCC- treesA · embroideriesA · beamB · streamB · sayC · awayC · witchery
- 2 AABBCC- sereneA · sceneA · noteB · throatB · wingsC · singsC · witchery
- 3 AABBCC- nameA · cameA · goesB · growsB · prayC · wayC · witchery
- 4 AA--BB- shellsA · bellsA · melody · she · thingsB · bringsB · witchery
- 5 AABBCC- overheadA · bedA · runB · oneB · dayC · layC · witchery
- 6 AABBCC- lookA · brookA · whiteB · delightB · feetC · completeC · witchery
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When May bedecks the naked trees | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| With tassels and embroideries, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| And many blue-eyed violets beam | 8 | ·/··/˘˘· |
| Along the edges of the stream, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I hear a voice that seems to say, | 8 | ········ |
| Now near at hand, now far away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "Witchery--witchery--witchery." | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| An incantation so serene, | 8 | ·˘//˘·˘/ |
| So innocent, befits the scene: | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| There's magic in that small bird's note-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| See, there he flits--the Yellow-throat; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A living sunbeam, tipped with wings, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| A spark of light that shines and sings | 8 | ········ |
| "Witchery--witchery--witchery." | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| You prophet with a pleasant name, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| If out of Mary-land you came, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You know the way that thither goes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where Mary's lovely garden grows: | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Fly swiftly back to her, I pray, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And try to call her down this way, | 8 | ········ |
| "Witchery--witchery--witchery!" | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Tell her to leave her cockle-shells, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And all her little silver bells | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That blossom into melody, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And all her maids less fair than she. | 8 | ········ |
| She does not need these pretty things, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For everywhere she comes, she brings | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Witchery--witchery--witchery!" | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| The woods are greening overhead, | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| And flowers adorn each mossy bed; | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| The waters babble as they run-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| One thing is lacking, only one: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| If Mary were but here to-day, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I would believe your charming lay, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| "Witchery--witchery--witchery!" | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Along the shady road I look-- | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Who's coming now across the brook? | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| A woodland maid, all robed in white-- | 8 | ·/······ |
| The leaves dance round her with delight, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The stream laughs out beneath her feet-- | 8 | ········ |
| Sing, merry bird, the charm's complete, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| "Witchery--witchery--witchery!" | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
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.