March
Winter is long in this climateand spring--a matter of a few daysonly,--a flower or two pickedfrom mud or from among wet leavesor at best against treacherousbitterness of wind, and sky shiningteasingly, then closing in blackand sudden, with fierce jaws.
March,you remind me ofthe pyramids, our pyramids--stript of the polished stonethat used to guard them!March,you are like Fra Angelicoat Fiesole, painting on plaster!
March,you are like a band ofyoung poets that have not learnedthe blessedness of warmth(or have forgotten it).
At any rate--I am moved to write poetryfor the warmth there is in itand for the loneliness--a poem that shall have youin it March.
See!Ashur-ban-i-pal,the archer king, on horse-back,in blue and yellow enamel!with drawn bow--facing lionsstanding on their hind legs,fangs bared! his shaftsbristling in their necks!
Sacred bulls--dragonsin embossed brickworkmarching--in four tiers--along the sacred way toNebuchadnezzar's throne hall!They shine in the sun,they that have been marching--marching under the dust often thousand dirt years.
Now--they are coming into bloom again!See them!marching still, bared bythe storms from my calendar--winds that blow back the sand!winds that enfilade dirt!winds that by strange crafthave whipt up a black armythat by pick and shovelbare a procession tothe god, Marduk!
Natives cursing and diggingfor pay unearth dragons withupright tails and sacred bullsalternately--in four tiers--lining the way to an old altar!Natives digging at old walls--digging me warmth--digging mesweet loneliness--high enamelled walls.
My second spring--passed in a monasterywith plaster walls--in Fiesoleon the hill above Florence.
My second spring--painteda virgin--in a blue aureolesitting on a three-legged stool,arms crossed--she is intently serious,and stillwatching an angelwith coloured wingshalf kneeling before her--and smiling--the angel's eyesholding the eyes of Maryas a snake's holds a bird's.On the ground there are flowers,trees are in leaf.
But! now for the battle!Now for murder--now for the real thing!My third springtime is approaching!Winds!lean, serious as a virgin,seeking, seeking the flowers of March.
Seekingflowers nowhere to be found,they twine among the bare branchesin insatiable eagerness--they whirl up the snowseeking under it--they--the winds--snakelikeroar among yellow reedsseeking flowers--flowers.
Come, good, cold fellows!Have we no flowers?Defy then with even moredesperation than ever--beinglean and frozen!
Words in this poem 15
- remind v. t.
- To put (one) in mind of something; to bring to the remembrance of; to bring to the notice or consideration of (a person).
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- brickwork n.
- Anything made of bricks.
- enfilade n.
- A line or straight passage, or the position of that which lies in a straight line. [F., fr. enfiler to thread, go trough a street or square, rake with shot; pref. en- (L. in) + fil thread. See File a row.]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- unearth v. t.
- To drive or draw from the earth; hence, to uncover; to bring out from concealment; to bring to light; to disclose; as, to unearth a secret. [1st pref. un- + earth.]
- aureole n.
- A celestial crown or accidental glory added to the bliss of heaven, as a reward to those (as virgins, martyrs, preachers, etc.) who have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. [F. auréole, fr. L. aureola, (fem adj.) of gold (sc. corona crown), dim. of aureus. See Aureate, Oriole.]
- intently adv.
- In an intent manner; as, the eyes intently fixed.
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
- desperation n.
- The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope. [L. desperatio: cf. OF. desperation.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
March is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sour Grapes: A Book of Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #35667; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Carlos Williams, March, in Sour Grapes (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #35667, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-sour-grapes/march.html, id L01145.
Form and metre
March is 104 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 39 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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.
- 2 A----A-- marchA · of · pyramids · stone · them · marchA · angelico · plaster
- 5 -A-A---- see · palA · back · enamelA · lions · legs · shafts · necks
- 6 --A-----A dragons · brickwork · tiersA · to · hall · sun · marching · of · yearsA
- 8 ------A--A digging · with · bulls · alternately · tiers · altar · wallsA · me · loneliness · wallsA
- 10 -AA--AA--B--B- painted · aureoleA · stoolA · crossed · serious · stillA · angelA · wings · her · eyesB · mary · bird's · flowersB · leaf
- 11 -AA--- battle · thingA · approachingA · winds · virgin · march
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Winter is long in this climate | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| and spring--a matter of a few days | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| only,--a flower or two picked | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| from mud or from among wet leaves | 8 | ········ |
| or at best against treacherous | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| bitterness of wind, and sky shining | 9 | /˘˘····/˘ |
| teasingly, then closing in black | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| and sudden, with fierce jaws. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| March, | 1 | · |
| you remind me of | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| the pyramids, our pyramids-- | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘˘ |
| stript of the polished stone | 6 | ···/˘· |
| that used to guard them! | 5 | ····· |
| March, | 1 | · |
| you are like Fra Angelico | 8 | ····˘˘/˘ |
| at Fiesole, painting on plaster! | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| March, | 1 | · |
| you are like a band of | 6 | ······ |
| young poets that have not learned | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| the blessedness of warmth | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| (or have forgotten it). | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| At any rate-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I am moved to write poetry | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| for the warmth there is in it | 7 | ······· |
| and for the loneliness-- | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| a poem that shall have you | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| in it March. | 3 | ··· |
| See! | 1 | · |
| Ashur-ban-i-pal, | 5 | /˘··· |
| the archer king, on horse-back, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| in blue and yellow enamel! | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| with drawn bow--facing lions | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| standing on their hind legs, | 6 | /˘···· |
| fangs bared! his shafts | 4 | ···· |
| bristling in their necks! | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Sacred bulls--dragons | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| in embossed brickwork | 5 | ·˘//˘ |
| marching--in four tiers-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| along the sacred way to | 7 | ˘/·/˘·· |
| Nebuchadnezzar's throne hall! | 7 | ······· |
| They shine in the sun, | 5 | ····· |
| they that have been marching-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| marching under the dust of | 7 | /˘····· |
| ten thousand dirt years. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Now-- | 1 | · |
| they are coming into bloom again! | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| See them! | 2 | ·· |
| marching still, bared by | 5 | /˘··· |
| the storms from my calendar | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| --winds that blow back the sand! | 6 | ······ |
| winds that enfilade dirt! | 6 | ······ |
| winds that by strange craft | 5 | ····· |
| have whipt up a black army | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| that by pick and shovel | 6 | ····/˘ |
| bare a procession to | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| the god, Marduk! | 4 | ···· |
| Natives cursing and digging | 7 | /˘/˘·/˘ |
| for pay unearth dragons with | 7 | ··˘//˘· |
| upright tails and sacred bulls | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| alternately-- | 4 | /˘˘˘ |
| in four tiers-- | 3 | ··· |
| lining the way to an old altar! | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Natives digging at old walls-- | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| digging me warmth--digging me | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| sweet loneliness-- | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| high enamelled walls. | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| My second spring-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| passed in a monastery | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| with plaster walls--in Fiesole | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| on the hill above Florence. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| My second spring--painted | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| a virgin--in a blue aureole | 9 | ·/˘···/˘˘ |
| sitting on a three-legged stool, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| arms crossed-- | 2 | ·· |
| she is intently serious, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| and still | 2 | ·· |
| watching an angel | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| with coloured wings | 4 | ·/˘· |
| half kneeling before her-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| and smiling--the angel's eyes | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| holding the eyes of Mary | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| as a snake's holds a bird's. | 6 | ······ |
| On the ground there are flowers, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| trees are in leaf. | 4 | ···· |
| But! now for the battle! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Now for murder--now for the real thing! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| My third springtime is approaching! | 8 | ··/··˘/˘ |
| Winds! | 1 | · |
| lean, serious as a virgin, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| seeking, seeking the flowers of March. | 9 | /˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Seeking | 2 | /˘ |
| flowers nowhere to be found, | 7 | /˘/···· |
| they twine among the bare branches | 8 | ······/˘ |
| in insatiable eagerness-- | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| they whirl up the snow | 5 | ····· |
| seeking under it-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| they--the winds--snakelike | 5 | ···/· |
| roar among yellow reeds | 6 | ···/˘· |
| seeking flowers--flowers. | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| Come, good, cold fellows! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Have we no flowers? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Defy then with even more | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| desperation than ever--being | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| lean and frozen! | 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.