Spring Analysis

Welcome to the land of symbols, imagery, and wordplay. Before you travel any further, please know that there may be some thorny academic terminology ahead. Never fear, Shmoop is here. Check out our...

Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet, Sprung Rhythm"Spring" follows the form of an Italian Sonnet. It has fourteen lines and uses the rhyme scheme ABBAABBA CDCDCD. Generally, sonnets are written in a singl...

The speaker of our poem sounds like the kind of guy who goes for long walks in the woods or fields, and who can have a powerful spiritual experience just by looking at a bird's nest or an earthworm...

This poem takes us on a stroll through the countryside in spring. It's a natural setting, but not a completely wild place. We get the sense there are farms around, and pastures. We walk through wee...

The first line of "Spring" has a nice lilt, but it otherwise sounds pretty normal. You could imagine hearing it in conversation or seeing it in an essay. With the second line, though, the language...

It's a simple title, but that one word – "Spring" – is loaded with associations. Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal of the natural world. For Christians it's also the time to c...

Italian Sonnets in Three StanzasThe sonnet is probably the most common form of poetry in the English language. The limited space (fourteen lines) forces compression of thought and emotion – t...

(3) Base CampThe wording can be confusing or ambiguous in a couple of spots, but the music of the language will usually carry you through with at least a general idea of what's happening.

Famous poets W.B. Yeats and T.S. Eliot both complained that Hopkins's language and rhythms were too strange and inaccessible. An odd complaint, perhaps, given that Yeats's poetry is famous for bein...

GThere's not a lot that's very steamy here, except if you're a plant. Evidence of plant reproduction is all over the place: weeds sprouting, plants growing leaves, flowers budding. But the images s...

Literary and Philosophical ReferencesThe Bible (Genesis, the Garden of Eden) (lines 10-11)