The Rose Tree
“O words are lightly spoken”Said Pearse to Connolly,“Maybe a breath of politic wordsHas withered our Rose Tree;Or maybe but a wind that blowsAcross the bitter sea.”
“It needs to be but watered,”James Connolly replied,“To make the green come out againAnd spread on every side,And shake the blossom from the budTo be the garden’s pride.”
“But where can we draw water”Said Pearse to Connolly,“When all the wells are parched away?O plain as plain can beThere’s nothing but our own red bloodCan make a right Rose Tree.”
Words in this poem
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Rose Tree is in the public domain. This text is taken from Michael Robartes and the dancer, Project Gutenberg ebook #72987; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, The Rose Tree, in Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #72987, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-michael-robartes/the-rose-tree.html, id L19947.
Form and metre
The Rose Tree is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See 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 ---A-A spoken · connolly · words · treeA · blows · seaA
- 2 AA-AAA wateredA · repliedA · again · sideA · budA · prideA
- 3 ---A-A water · connolly · away · beA · blood · treeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “O words are lightly spoken” | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Said Pearse to Connolly, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| “Maybe a breath of politic words | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Has withered our Rose Tree; | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Or maybe but a wind that blows | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Across the bitter sea.” | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| “It needs to be but watered,” | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| James Connolly replied, | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| “To make the green come out again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And spread on every side, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And shake the blossom from the bud | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To be the garden’s pride.” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “But where can we draw water” | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Said Pearse to Connolly, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| “When all the wells are parched away? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O plain as plain can be | 6 | ······ |
| There’s nothing but our own red blood | 8 | ·/˘·/··· |
| Can make a right Rose Tree.” | 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.