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Lyric Poem · Nature

Spring Quiet

by Christina Rossetti

1Gone were but the Winter,

2Come were but the Spring,

3I would go to a covert

4Where the birds sing;

5Where in the whitethorn

6Singeth a thrush,

7And a robin sings

8In the holly-bush.

9Full of fresh scents

10Are the budding boughs

11Arching high over

12A cool green house:

13Full of sweet scents,

14And whispering air

15Which sayeth softly:

16"We spread no snare;

17"Here dwell in safety,

18Here dwell alone,

19With a clear stream

20And a mossy stone.

21"Here the sun shineth

22Most shadily;

23Here is heard an echo

24Of the far sea,

25Though far off it be."

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Quick facts

Poem
Spring Quiet
Poet
Christina Rossetti
Length
25 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Nature, Spring, Winter

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape
25 lines · 6 stanzas of 4–5 lines
Line length
Lines run 4-6 syllables (median 5). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake

Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record
Christina Rossetti1830–1894
Source record
PoetryDBSpring Quiet by christina-rossetti, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision
Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record
Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint
SHA-256 b686dcebc257fca4
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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