The First Swallow
Charlotte Smith 1749 (London) – 1806 (Tilford, Surrey)
The gorse is yellow on the heath,
The banks with speedwell flowers are gay,
The oaks are budding, and, beneath,
The hawthorn soon will bear the wreath,
The silver wreath, of May.
The welcome guest of settled Spring,
The swallow, too, has come at last;
Just at sunset, when thrushes sing,
I saw her dash with rapid wing,
And hailed her as she passed.
Come, summer visitant, attach
To my reed roof your nest of clay,
And let my ear your music catch,
Low twittering underneath the thatch
At the gray dawn of day.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 15, 2023
- 28 sec read
- 149 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAAB CDCCD EBEEB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 503 |
Words | 96 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5 |
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"The First Swallow" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/5670/the-first-swallow>.
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