Analysis of The Gladness of Nature

William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)



Is this a time to be cloudy and sad,
When our mother Nature laughs around;
When even the deep blue heavens look glad,
And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?

There are notes of joy from the hang-bird and wren,
And the gossip of swallows through all the sky;
The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den,
And the wilding bee hums merrily by.

The clouds are at play in the azure space,
And their shadows at play on the bright green vale,
And here they stretch to the frolic chase,
And there they roll on the easy gale.

There's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower,
There's a titter of winds in that beechen tree,
There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea.

And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles
On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray,
On the leaping waters and gay young isles;
Ay, look, and he'll smile thy gloom away.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 1101111001 1101010101 1100111011 011101001 11111101101 00101101101 0110101111 0010111001 0111100101 0111110111 011110101 011110101 10111011010 1010110111 1011010011010 00110111101 0110111111 1010111011 1010100111 110111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 908
Words 175
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 140
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
78

William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post. more…

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