Analysis of A Florilegium
Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)
I
All the seasons of the year,
I have flowers for you, dear.
When the ploughland's flecked with snow,
And the blue-eyed scyllas blow,
Gazing, through the wintry gale,
Like your eyes when you are pale;
When in many a cloistered walk
Droop upon their modest stalk
Vestal snowdrops, one by one,
White as is a wimpled nun;
When, as sleet away doth slip,
And the thawing gables drip,
The precocious crocus peers,-
Childlike, sunshine half, half tears,-
And from out the snug warm leaves
Silent housewife Winter weaves,
Scarlet windflowers, wide unfurled,
Dazzle an awakened world;
These and more to you I bring,
Bold outriders of the Spring.
II
When along the Northern skies
Routed Winter shrieks and flies,
And again the mavis shrills,
Come the dauntless daffodils,
Laughing, as they sway and swing,
At rude March's blustering.
These I gather, and with these
Rosy-white anemones,
Like the coral-shells you wear
Sometimes in your hazel hair;
Primroses loved none the less
For their wilding lavishness;
Honeysuckle, like to you,
To what's near it clinging true;
Violets, surprised in shade,
By their own sweet breath betrayed;
Lagging hawthorn prized the more
That it long was waited for;
These unto your bower I bring,
Gifts of Summer lent to Spring.
III
Which are loveliest, lilies dight
In their stateliness of white,
Safe against a touch too rude
By their cold proud maidenhood,
Or the unreservëd rose,
Careless where it gads or goes,
So it be allowed to cling,
Rioting and revelling?
Rose and lily both I cull,
Iris scarce less beautiful,
Mignonette more sweet than myrrh,
Homely-smelling lavender,
Pinks and pansies, golden whin,
Constellated jessamine,
Bunches of the maiden's-bower,
Tufts of gaudy gillyflower,
Sprays of softening maidenhair;
With my posy mount your stair
To the chamber where you sit,
Tenderly awaiting it.
IV
Then, when gorgeous Summer wanes,
Autumn woods and Winter lanes
Do I haunt, that I may dress
With their lingering loveliness
Nook and ingle where you be
Busy with your housewifery:
Ripened reedmace' barren sheaves,
Hardy hornbeam's russet leaves,
Jewels from the spindle-tree,
Coral-fruited briony,
Crimson haws and purple sloes,
Rubies that were once the rose,
Holly-berries warm in snow,
Amber-beaded misletoe,
Everything the waning year
Spares, that I may bring you, dear.
V
But should frost and rifling wind
Leave not even these behind,
And from out the leafless blast
I must come to you at last
Empty-handed, you would be
More than all the flowers to me.
Scheme | ABBCCDDEEFFGGHXIIJJKK ALLHXKKXHMMNHOOPPQQKK AJXXJRRKESSTTCXTBBMUU VWWNHXBIIXCHRCJBB VYYZZXX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 1010101 1110111 101111 001111 1010101 1111111 10100101 1011101 101111 111011 1110111 0010101 0010101 11111 0110111 101101 101101 1010101 1011111 110101 1 1010101 1010101 0010101 10110 1011101 1110100 1110011 1011 1010111 0101101 101101 11101 100111 1111101 1000101 1111101 101101 1111101 11011011 1110111 1 111101 01111 1010111 11111 10111 1011111 1110111 10001 1010111 1011100 11111 1010100 1010101 1100 1010110 11101 111001 111111 1010111 1000101 1 1110101 1010101 1111111 111001 1010111 10111 101101 101101 1010101 1011 1010101 1010101 1010101 10101 100101 1111111 1 1110101 1110101 0110101 1111111 1010111 11101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,412 |
Words | 415 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 21, 21, 21, 17, 7 |
Lines Amount | 87 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 396 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 82 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 01, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 137 Views
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"A Florilegium" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/635/a-florilegium>.
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