Analysis of The Promise Of Spring

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



JUST a whisper, half-heard,
But our heart knows the word;
Caresses that seem
Like love's lips in a dream;
Yet we know she is here,
The desirèd, the dear,
The love of the year!
In the murmur of boughs,
In the softening of skies,
In the sun on the house,
In the daffodil's green
(Half an inch, half-unseen
Mid the mournful brown mould
Where the rotten leaf lies)
Her story is told.

O Spring, darling Spring,
O sweet days of blue weather
The thrushes shall sing,
Fields shall grow green again,
Daisies be seen again,
Hedges grow white;
Then down the lane,
Grown leafy again,
Shall go lovers together--
Lovers who see again
Sunshine and showers,
Perfume and flowers,
Dewy dear hours,
Dream and delight.

Warm shall nests be again,
Winter's behind us;
Springtime shall find us,
Taking our hands,
Lead us away from the cold and the snow,
Into the green world where primroses grow.
Winter, hard winter, forgotten, forgiven;
All the old pain paid, to seventy times seven,
All the new glory a-glow.
Love, when Spring calls, will you still turn away?
Winter has wooed you in vain, and shall May?
Love, when Spring calls, will you go?


Scheme AABBXCCXDXEEFDF GHGIIJXIHIKKKJ ILLXMMNNMOOM
Poetic Form
Metre 101011 1101101 01011 111001 111111 001101 01101 001011 0010011 001101 0011 111101 101011 101011 01011 11101 1111110 01011 111101 101101 1011 1101 11001 1110010 101101 1010 01010 10110 1001 111101 10011 1111 10101 1101101001 010111101 10110010010 101111100110 1011001 1111111101 1011101011 1111111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,131
Words 202
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 15, 14, 12
Lines Amount 41
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 289
Words per stanza (avg) 67
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 23, 2023

1:01 min read
135

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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