Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
[...]
The south bank has had views of her;
The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
The willows adream
By the freshet stream
Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
[...]
https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html

#pennyspoems

On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> [...]
> The south bank has had views of her;
> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> The willows adream
> By the freshet stream
> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> [...]
> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
>
> #pennyspoems
----------
Here is the complete poem:

A Song for April
Charles G.D. Roberts

List! list! The buds confer.
This noonday they’ve had news of her;
The south bank has had views of her;
The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
The willows adream
By the freshet stream
Shall ask what boon they choose of her.

Up! up! The world’s astir;
The would-be green has word of her;
Root and germ have heard of her,
Coming to break
Their sleep and wake
Their hearts with every bird of her.

See! see! How swift concur
Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
A-wondering what became of her;
The fields flower at the flame of her;
The glad air sings
With dancing wings
And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
----------

We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem. "List!" is an archaic form of listen. "Up! up!" means wake up/get up, not an incantation. "See! see!" means to see. (Duh!)

We couldn't find the exact date that Mr. Roberts wrote the poem, but it was sometime before 1898.

We see a double meaning in the first line of the third stanza. The last line in stanza two mentions "every bird" and the first line contains the word "swift," which is a category of birds. However, if the meaning is that the sun, wind and rain "swift" concur at her name, that should be "How swiftly concur." It would be ideal if there was a bird called a "shrill," but we couldn't find a bird species by that name. Therefore, we must be content to have the "silvery shrill" come from the "glad air" and "dancing wings."

On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 3:07:34 PM UTC-4, George Dance wrote:
>
> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> [...]
> The south bank has had views of her;
> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> The willows adream
> By the freshet stream
> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> [...]
> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
>
> #pennyspoems

Good choice, George.

On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 8:16:55 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> > A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> > [...]
> > The south bank has had views of her;
> > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > The willows adream
> > By the freshet stream
> > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > [...]
> > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> >
> > #pennyspoems
> ----------
> Here is the complete poem:
>
> A Song for April
> Charles G.D. Roberts
>
> List! list! The buds confer.
> This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> The south bank has had views of her;
> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> The willows adream
> By the freshet stream
> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> Up! up! The world’s astir;
> The would-be green has word of her;
> Root and germ have heard of her,
> Coming to break
> Their sleep and wake
> Their hearts with every bird of her.
>
> See! see! How swift concur
> Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> A-wondering what became of her;
> The fields flower at the flame of her;
> The glad air sings
> With dancing wings
> And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> ----------
>
> We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem. "List!" is an archaic form of listen. "Up! up!" means wake up/get up, not an incantation. "See! see!" means to see. (Duh!)
>
> We couldn't find the exact date that Mr. Roberts wrote the poem, but it was sometime before 1898.
>
> We see a double meaning in the first line of the third stanza. The last line in stanza two mentions "every bird" and the first line contains the word "swift," which is a category of birds. However, if the meaning is that the sun, wind and rain "swift" concur at her name, that should be "How swiftly concur." It would be ideal if there was a bird called a "shrill," but we couldn't find a bird species by that name. Therefore, we must be content to have the "silvery shrill" come from the "glad air" and "dancing wings."

George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third. Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have? Do you think "her" should be capitalized?

Is this an actual song?

George Dance wrote:
>
> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> [...]
> The south bank has had views of her;
> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> The willows adream
> By the freshet stream
> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> [...]
> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html

> #pennyspoems

Marvelous choice Mr. G.D.

On Monday, April 3, 2023 at 7:00:12 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 8:16:55 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > > Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> > > A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > [...]
> > > The south bank has had views of her;
> > > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > The willows adream
> > > By the freshet stream
> > > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > [...]
> > > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> > >
> > > #pennyspoems
> > ----------
> > Here is the complete poem:
> >
> > A Song for April
> > Charles G.D. Roberts
> >
> > List! list! The buds confer.
> > This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > The south bank has had views of her;
> > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > The willows adream
> > By the freshet stream
> > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > The would-be green has word of her;
> > Root and germ have heard of her,
> > Coming to break
> > Their sleep and wake
> > Their hearts with every bird of her.
> >
> > See! see! How swift concur
> > Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > A-wondering what became of her;
> > The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > The glad air sings
> > With dancing wings
> > And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > ----------
> >
> > We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem. "List!" is an archaic form of listen. "Up! up!" means wake up/get up, not an incantation. "See! see!" means to see. (Duh!)

No, it doesn't sound like 'incantations' or a Civil War marching song FTM. this use of repetition is directed at the speaker's readers or hearers.

> > We couldn't find the exact date that Mr. Roberts wrote the poem, but it was sometime before 1898.
> >

Did you find a publication date in 1898? The earliest I found was 1901.

> > We see a double meaning in the first line of the third stanza. The last line in stanza two mentions "every bird" and the first line contains the word "swift," which is a category of birds. However, if the meaning is that the sun, wind and rain "swift" concur at her name, that should be "How swiftly concur." It would be ideal if there was a bird called a "shrill," but we couldn't find a bird species by that name. Therefore, we must be content to have the "silvery shrill" come from the "glad air" and "dancing wings."

I suspect you're right about "swift", and I enoyed your other comments here..

> George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.

I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF

The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:

B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"

D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"

F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".

The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.

> Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?

Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.

> Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
>
I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.

> Is this an actual song?

Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 12:31:30 AM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> On Monday, April 3, 2023 at 7:00:12 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 8:16:55 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > > > Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> > > > A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > > [...]
> > > > The south bank has had views of her;
> > > > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > > The willows adream
> > > > By the freshet stream
> > > > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > > [...]
> > > > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> > > >
> > > > #pennyspoems
> > > ----------
> > > Here is the complete poem:
> > >
> > > A Song for April
> > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > >
> > > List! list! The buds confer.
> > > This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > The south bank has had views of her;
> > > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > The willows adream
> > > By the freshet stream
> > > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > The would-be green has word of her;
> > > Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > Coming to break
> > > Their sleep and wake
> > > Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > >
> > > See! see! How swift concur
> > > Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > A-wondering what became of her;
> > > The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > The glad air sings
> > > With dancing wings
> > > And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > ----------
> > >
> > > We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem. "List!" is an archaic form of listen. "Up! up!" means wake up/get up, not an incantation. "See! see!" means to see. (Duh!)
> No, it doesn't sound like 'incantations' or a Civil War marching song FTM.. this use of repetition is directed at the speaker's readers or hearers.
Absolutely. No incantations there.

> > > We couldn't find the exact date that Mr. Roberts wrote the poem, but it was sometime before 1898.
> > >
> Did you find a publication date in 1898? The earliest I found was 1901.
We found additional information on the poem. It was originally titled "A Song for Spring," or at least that was its title in May 1899. We saw an 1898 date in previous research and will look again for that. The poem was published in "The Century Magazine" in May, 1899, on p. 38.
https://www.unz.com/print/Century-1899may-00038/

It was also published (with a reference to "Century") in "The Lebanonian" (N.H.) in their Volume II, No. 6 issue (May 10, 1899). "Charles G. D. Roberts, in May 'Century.'" (p. 7)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Lebanonian/STgTAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22List!+list!+The+buds+confer.+This+noonday+they%E2%80%99ve+had+news+of+her%3B%22&dq=%22List!+list!+The+buds+confer.+This+noonday+they%E2%80%99ve+had+news+of+her%3B%22&printsec=frontcover

It was also published in "The American Friend" in May 1899, p. 501. Roberts must have syndicated his poem or these small newspapers just helped themselves.
https://books.google.com/books?id=LgyUKOPmBmUC&pg=PA501&lpg=PA501&dq=%22Charles+G.+D.+Roberts+in+May+Century%22&source=bl&ots=03Us17rqSx&sig=ACfU3U2-3qEAdwat7KskTu_Iugkb9GujeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrmqqLoZD-AhWzm2oFHdIGDUkQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Charles%20G.%20D.%20Roberts%20in%20May%20Century%22&f=false

Also in "Self Culture" (1900) - Volume 11 - Page 46
https://books.google.com/books?id=2ElQAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA46&dq=%22List!+list!+The+buds+confer.+This+noonday+they%E2%80%99ve+had+news+of+her;%22&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22List!%20list!%20The%20buds%20confer.%20This%20noonday%20they%E2%80%99ve%20had%20news%20of%20her%3B%22&f=false

We laughed at one of the books about Charles G.D. Roberts, which is called "Sir Charles God Damn: The Life of Sir Charles G.D. Roberts."

The earlier publications of the poem have the second "List" capitalized and a colon at the end of that first line. They also have "Up! Up! the mold's astir" instead of "Up! up! the world's astir." "List! list!" is also "List! List!" in the 1899 magazine and newspapers. We know that Michael has said that some publishers punctuated poems in their own style. We suspect that "world" was mistyped into "mold" by someone and subsequent newspapers used that version. We haven't looked for when the title changed from "A Song for Spring" to "A Song for April," but it was thus in 1901 in "Poems by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts."
https://books.google.com/books?id=F70pAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

> > > We see a double meaning in the first line of the third stanza. The last line in stanza two mentions "every bird" and the first line contains the word "swift," which is a category of birds. However, if the meaning is that the sun, wind and rain "swift" concur at her name, that should be "How swiftly concur." It would be ideal if there was a bird called a "shrill," but we couldn't find a bird species by that name. Therefore, we must be content to have the "silvery shrill" come from the "glad air" and "dancing wings."
> I suspect you're right about "swift", and I enoyed your other comments here.
Thanks. We know that Sir Charles put much more into the poem than is seen at first read.

We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.

> > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
>
> The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
>
> B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
>
> D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
>
> F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
>
> The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> >
> I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > Is this an actual song?
> Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.

NancyGene wrote:

> On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
>
>> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
>> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
>> [...]
>> The south bank has had views of her;
>> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
>> The willows adream
>> By the freshet stream
>> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
>> [...]
>> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
>>
>> #pennyspoems
> ----------
> Here is the complete poem:

> A Song for April
> Charles G.D. Roberts

> List! list! The buds confer.
> This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> The south bank has had views of her;
> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> The willows adream
> By the freshet stream
> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.

> Up! up! The world’s astir;
> The would-be green has word of her;
> Root and germ have heard of her,
> Coming to break
> Their sleep and wake
> Their hearts with every bird of her.

> See! see! How swift concur
> Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> A-wondering what became of her;
> The fields flower at the flame of her;
> The glad air sings
> With dancing wings
> And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> ----------

> We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem

As if you'd know any better than I would, Nancy Gene.

🙂

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 11:10:16 PM UTC-4, W-Dockery wrote:
> NancyGene wrote:
>
> > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> >
> >> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> >> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> >> [...]
> >> The south bank has had views of her;
> >> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> >> The willows adream
> >> By the freshet stream
> >> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> >> [...]
> >> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> >>
> >> #pennyspoems
> > ----------
> > Here is the complete poem:
>
> > A Song for April
> > Charles G.D. Roberts
>
> > List! list! The buds confer.
> > This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > The south bank has had views of her;
> > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > The willows adream
> > By the freshet stream
> > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > The would-be green has word of her;
> > Root and germ have heard of her,
> > Coming to break
> > Their sleep and wake
> > Their hearts with every bird of her.
>
> > See! see! How swift concur
> > Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > A-wondering what became of her;
> > The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > The glad air sings
> > With dancing wings
> > And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > ----------
>
> > We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem
> As if you'd know any better than I would, Nancy Gene.

Of course she knows better, Donkey. She's literate, and understands the poem.

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 3:03:21 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 11:10:16 PM UTC-4, W-Dockery wrote:
> > NancyGene wrote:
> >
> > > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > >
> > >> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> > >> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> > >> [...]
> > >> The south bank has had views of her;
> > >> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > >> The willows adream
> > >> By the freshet stream
> > >> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > >> [...]
> > >> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> > >>
> > >> #pennyspoems
> > > ----------
> > > Here is the complete poem:
> >
> > > A Song for April
> > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> >
> > > List! list! The buds confer.
> > > This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > The south bank has had views of her;
> > > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > The willows adream
> > > By the freshet stream
> > > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > The would-be green has word of her;
> > > Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > Coming to break
> > > Their sleep and wake
> > > Their hearts with every bird of her.
> >
> > > See! see! How swift concur
> > > Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > A-wondering what became of her;
> > > The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > The glad air sings
> > > With dancing wings
> > > And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > ----------
> >
> > > We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem
> > As if you'd know any better than I would, Nancy Gene.
> Of course

Of course you're expected to defend your fellow trolls, Pendragon.

🙂

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.

> > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
>
> The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
>
> B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
>
> D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
>
> F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
>
> The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.

No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.

We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:

A Song for April
Charles G.D. Roberts

A - List! list! The buds confer.
B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
B - The south bank has had views of her;
B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
C - The willows adream
C - By the freshet stream
B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.

A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
D - The would-be green has word of her;
D - Root and germ have heard of her,
E - Coming to break
E - Their sleep and wake
D - Their hearts with every bird of her.

A - See! see! How swift concur
F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
F - A-wondering what became of her;
F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
G - The glad air sings
G - With dancing wings
F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.

> > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.

We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.

> > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> >
> I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.

> > Is this an actual song?
> Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.

We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”

Michael Pendragon wrote:

> On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 11:10:16 PM UTC-4, W-Dockery wrote:
>> NancyGene wrote:
>>
>> > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
>> >
>> >> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
>> >> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
>> >> [...]
>> >> The south bank has had views of her;
>> >> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
>> >> The willows adream
>> >> By the freshet stream
>> >> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
>> >> [...]
>> >> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
>> >>
>> >> #pennyspoems
>> > ----------
>> > Here is the complete poem:
>>
>> > A Song for April
>> > Charles G.D. Roberts
>>
>> > List! list! The buds confer.
>> > This noonday they’ve had news of her;
>> > The south bank has had views of her;
>> > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
>> > The willows adream
>> > By the freshet stream
>> > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
>> > Up! up! The world’s astir;
>> > The would-be green has word of her;
>> > Root and germ have heard of her,
>> > Coming to break
>> > Their sleep and wake
>> > Their hearts with every bird of her.
>>
>> > See! see! How swift concur
>> > Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
>> > A-wondering what became of her;
>> > The fields flower at the flame of her;
>> > The glad air sings
>> > With dancing wings
>> > And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
>> > ----------
>>
>> > We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem
>> As if you'd know any better than I would, Nancy Gene.

> Of course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fuck off, ya ignorant Penheaded motherfucker... ha ha.

On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 3:07:34 PM UTC-4, George Dance wrote:
>
> Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> [...]
> The south bank has had views of her;
> The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> The willows adream
> By the freshet stream
> Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> [...]
> https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
>
> #pennyspoems

Good afternoon, George.

Again, good, and interesting, choice.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 12:31:30 AM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > On Monday, April 3, 2023 at 7:00:12 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 8:16:55 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 7:07:34 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > > > > Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> > > > > A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > > > [...]
> > > > > The south bank has had views of her;
> > > > > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > > > The willows adream
> > > > > By the freshet stream
> > > > > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > > > [...]
> > > > > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> > > > >
> > > > > #pennyspoems
> > > > ----------
> > > > Here is the complete poem:
> > > >
> > > > A Song for April
> > > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > >
> > > > List! list! The buds confer.
> > > > This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > > The south bank has had views of her;
> > > > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > > The willows adream
> > > > By the freshet stream
> > > > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > > Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > > The would-be green has word of her;
> > > > Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > > Coming to break
> > > > Their sleep and wake
> > > > Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > > >
> > > > See! see! How swift concur
> > > > Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > > A-wondering what became of her;
> > > > The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > > The glad air sings
> > > > With dancing wings
> > > > And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > ----------
> > > >
> > > > We deduce that Mr. Roberts was NOT invoking ancient incantations in his poem. "List!" is an archaic form of listen. "Up! up!" means wake up/get up, not an incantation. "See! see!" means to see. (Duh!)
> > No, it doesn't sound like 'incantations' or a Civil War marching song FTM. this use of repetition is directed at the speaker's readers or hearers.
> Absolutely. No incantations there.
> > > > We couldn't find the exact date that Mr. Roberts wrote the poem, but it was sometime before 1898.
> > > >
> > Did you find a publication date in 1898? The earliest I found was 1901.
> We found additional information on the poem. It was originally titled "A Song for Spring," or at least that was its title in May 1899. We saw an 1898 date in previous research and will look again for that. The poem was published in "The Century Magazine" in May, 1899, on p. 38.
> https://www.unz.com/print/Century-1899may-00038/
>
> It was also published (with a reference to "Century") in "The Lebanonian" (N.H.) in their Volume II, No. 6 issue (May 10, 1899). "Charles G. D. Roberts, in May 'Century.'" (p. 7)
> https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Lebanonian/STgTAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22List!+list!+The+buds+confer.+This+noonday+they%E2%80%99ve+had+news+of+her%3B%22&dq=%22List!+list!+The+buds+confer.+This+noonday+they%E2%80%99ve+had+news+of+her%3B%22&printsec=frontcover
>
> It was also published in "The American Friend" in May 1899, p. 501. Roberts must have syndicated his poem or these small newspapers just helped themselves.
> https://books.google.com/books?id=LgyUKOPmBmUC&pg=PA501&lpg=PA501&dq=%22Charles+G.+D.+Roberts+in+May+Century%22&source=bl&ots=03Us17rqSx&sig=ACfU3U2-3qEAdwat7KskTu_Iugkb9GujeQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrmqqLoZD-AhWzm2oFHdIGDUkQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Charles%20G.%20D.%20Roberts%20in%20May%20Century%22&f=false
>
> Also in "Self Culture" (1900) - Volume 11 - Page 46
> https://books.google.com/books?id=2ElQAAAAMAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA46&dq=%22List!+list!+The+buds+confer.+This+noonday+they%E2%80%99ve+had+news+of+her;%22&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22List!%20list!%20The%20buds%20confer.%20This%20noonday%20they%E2%80%99ve%20had%20news%20of%20her%3B%22&f=false
>
> We laughed at one of the books about Charles G.D. Roberts, which is called "Sir Charles God Damn: The Life of Sir Charles G.D. Roberts."
>
> The earlier publications of the poem have the second "List" capitalized and a colon at the end of that first line. They also have "Up! Up! the mold's astir" instead of "Up! up! the world's astir." "List! list!" is also "List! List!" in the 1899 magazine and newspapers. We know that Michael has said that some publishers punctuated poems in their own style. We suspect that "world" was mistyped into "mold" by someone and subsequent newspapers used that version. We haven't looked for when the title changed from "A Song for Spring" to "A Song for April," but it was thus in 1901 in "Poems by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts."
> https://books.google.com/books?id=F70pAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
> > > > We see a double meaning in the first line of the third stanza. The last line in stanza two mentions "every bird" and the first line contains the word "swift," which is a category of birds. However, if the meaning is that the sun, wind and rain "swift" concur at her name, that should be "How swiftly concur." It would be ideal if there was a bird called a "shrill," but we couldn't find a bird species by that name. Therefore, we must be content to have the "silvery shrill" come from the "glad air" and "dancing wings."
> > I suspect you're right about "swift", and I enoyed your other comments here.
> Thanks. We know that Sir Charles put much more into the poem than is seen at first read.
>
> We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> >
> > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> >
> > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> >
> > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> >
> > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> >
> > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > >
> > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > > Is this an actual song?
> > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.

What say you, George Dance?

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
>
> > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
>
> > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> >
> > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> >
> > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> >
> > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> >
> > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> >
> > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
>
> We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> A Song for April
> Charles G.D. Roberts
> A - List! list! The buds confer.
> B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> B - The south bank has had views of her;
> B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> C - The willows adream
> C - By the freshet stream
> B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
>
> A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> D - The would-be green has word of her;
> D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> E - Coming to break
> E - Their sleep and wake
> D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
>
> A - See! see! How swift concur
> F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> F - A-wondering what became of her;
> F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> G - The glad air sings
> G - With dancing wings
> F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > >
> > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > Is this an actual song?
> > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”

What say you also to this post, George Dance?

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> >
> > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> >
> > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > >
> > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > >
> > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > >
> > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > >
> > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > >
> > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> >
> > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > A Song for April
> > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > C - The willows adream
> > C - By the freshet stream
> > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> >
> > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > E - Coming to break
> > E - Their sleep and wake
> > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> >
> > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > G - The glad air sings
> > G - With dancing wings
> > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > >
> > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> What say you also to this post, George Dance?

Well, let me be completely honest: It was a good post. Your detailed illustration of the rhyme scheme must have taken a lot of work, and it certainly makes a good learning tool for someone encountering the poem.

Just as your finding the poem's publishing history took a lot of work, and it also valuable scholarship.

To sum up: you have worked hard in this thread, done your due diligence, and given us a lot of information. Too good, in fact, to just get buried in a thread on a social medium hardly anyone ever goes to any more.

I would actually encourage you to go to Penny's Poetry Pages, create a new article on "A Song for April / Charles G.D. Roberts" (I use the same conventions for both blogged poems and wiki articles on poems), and put all of your research there. I would format it in the standard wiki style, link it to Roberts's own article, etc, but I would not leave your text. You might have to create an account and log in: the host site, Fandom has changed the rules to require that for commenting, and it might apply to editing as well. I don't know; it's their call, not mine.

I really don't expect you to do that, considering that you probably consider PPP to be "enemy territory", but I thought you deserved the offer, so I wanted to get it on here.

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> >
> > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> >
> > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > >
> > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > >
> > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > >
> > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > >
> > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > >
> > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> >
> > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > A Song for April
> > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > C - The willows adream
> > C - By the freshet stream
> > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> >
> > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > E - Coming to break
> > E - Their sleep and wake
> > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> >
> > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > G - The glad air sings
> > G - With dancing wings
> > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > >
> > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> What say you also to this post, George Dance?

I enjoyed reading it, too. Whether Roberts intended the poem to be set to music (or hoped), or just meant to suggest music, is more a matter of speculation or opinion; but I'd add that speculation and original opinion on a work is also welcome in a PPP article (unlike on Wikipedia, where everything must reference someone else), so I'd say include it, too. If hard facts ever emerge (like, say, a musical setting that hasn't made it to the web yet), they can always be added later.

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:37:21 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > >
> > > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > >
> > > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > > >
> > > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > > >
> > > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > > >
> > > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > > >
> > > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > > >
> > > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> > >
> > > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > > A Song for April
> > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > C - The willows adream
> > > C - By the freshet stream
> > > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > >
> > > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > E - Coming to break
> > > E - Their sleep and wake
> > > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > >
> > > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > G - The glad air sings
> > > G - With dancing wings
> > > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > > >
> > > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> > What say you also to this post, George Dance?

> Well, let me be completely honest: It was a good post. Your detailed illustration of the rhyme scheme must have taken a lot of work, and it certainly makes a good learning tool for someone encountering the poem.

We only confirmed what you had already done and put the letters in front of the lines. You had done most of the work, so it was pretty easy. It does show the groupings of words that Roberts used and how much more intricate the poem is than it appears at first read.
>
> Just as your finding the poem's publishing history took a lot of work, and it also valuable scholarship.
We wish that you would address some of the findings, as we thought they were informative too. Our original post is at:
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.arts.poetry.comments/c/ZKfPwkouR9g/m/l87ez-LFBAAJ
We feared that it would be buried, and there was a lot of information to be read (which was why we stopped before the rhyme scheme). It shows the hazards to a poet of changing the name of a published poem. If you were looking for "A Song for April," it was earlier known as "A Song for Spring." We wonder whether the publishers called it that or Roberts had called it that?
>
> To sum up: you have worked hard in this thread, done your due diligence, and given us a lot of information. Too good, in fact, to just get buried in a thread on a social medium hardly anyone ever goes to any more.
Well, we were trying to get a discussion going on the subject, which is what AAPC is supposed to be about. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.
>
> I would actually encourage you to go to Penny's Poetry Pages, create a new article on "A Song for April / Charles G.D. Roberts" (I use the same conventions for both blogged poems and wiki articles on poems), and put all of your research there. I would format it in the standard wiki style, link it to Roberts's own article, etc, but I would not leave your text. You might have to create an account and log in: the host site, Fandom has changed the rules to require that for commenting, and it might apply to editing as well.. I don't know; it's their call, not mine.
Thank you for the invitation, but we would rather have the information here, rather than on PPP, since we are a member here and wish to promote discussion.
>
> I really don't expect you to do that, considering that you probably consider PPP to be "enemy territory", but I thought you deserved the offer, so I wanted to get it on here.
Thank you again. It would benefit AAPC if you would discuss the poems that you post (which is what we try to do). You know your poetry rules, even if the meaning of a poem can be debated. That would go a long way towards fulfilling the purpose of AAPC.

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:42:28 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > >
> > > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > >
> > > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > > >
> > > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > > >
> > > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > > >
> > > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > > >
> > > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > > >
> > > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> > >
> > > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > > A Song for April
> > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > C - The willows adream
> > > C - By the freshet stream
> > > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > >
> > > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > E - Coming to break
> > > E - Their sleep and wake
> > > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > >
> > > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > G - The glad air sings
> > > G - With dancing wings
> > > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > > >
> > > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> > What say you also to this post, George Dance?
> I enjoyed reading it, too. Whether Roberts intended the poem to be set to music (or hoped), or just meant to suggest music, is more a matter of speculation or opinion; but I'd add that speculation and original opinion on a work is also welcome in a PPP article (unlike on Wikipedia, where everything must reference someone else), so I'd say include it, too. If hard facts ever emerge (like, say, a musical setting that hasn't made it to the web yet), they can always be added later.

We don't think he meant it as an actual song. We didn't see that he wrote other poems that were songs, although "The Maple" was set to music in the 2000s.

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 5:23:08 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:42:28 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > > >
> > > > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > > > >
> > > > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > > > >
> > > > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > > > >
> > > > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > > > >
> > > > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > > > >
> > > > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that.. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> > > >
> > > > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > > > A Song for April
> > > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > > > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > > > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > > C - The willows adream
> > > > C - By the freshet stream
> > > > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > >
> > > > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > > > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > > E - Coming to break
> > > > E - Their sleep and wake
> > > > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > > >
> > > > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > > > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > > > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > > G - The glad air sings
> > > > G - With dancing wings
> > > > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > > > >
> > > > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it..
> > > > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > > > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> > > What say you also to this post, George Dance?
> > I enjoyed reading it, too. Whether Roberts intended the poem to be set to music (or hoped), or just meant to suggest music, is more a matter of speculation or opinion; but I'd add that speculation and original opinion on a work is also welcome in a PPP article (unlike on Wikipedia, where everything must reference someone else), so I'd say include it, too. If hard facts ever emerge (like, say, a musical setting that hasn't made it to the web yet), they can always be added later.
> We don't think he meant it as an actual song. We didn't see that he wrote other poems that were songs, although "The Maple" was set to music in the 2000s.

I also don't think that he'd intended it to be an actual song, however, it could easily be set to music. I don't have a piano handy, but I can (not that I would subject anyone it) sing the melody.

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:04:03 PM UTC, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 5:23:08 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:42:28 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > > > >
> > > > > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > > > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > > > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > > > > >
> > > > > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > > > > >
> > > > > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > > > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> > > > >
> > > > > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > > > > A Song for April
> > > > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > > > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > > > > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > > > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > > > > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > > > C - The willows adream
> > > > > C - By the freshet stream
> > > > > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > > >
> > > > > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > > > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > > > > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > > > E - Coming to break
> > > > > E - Their sleep and wake
> > > > > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > > > >
> > > > > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > > > > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > > > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > > > > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > > > G - The glad air sings
> > > > > G - With dancing wings
> > > > > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > > > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > > > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > > > > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > > > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > > > > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> > > > What say you also to this post, George Dance?
> > > I enjoyed reading it, too. Whether Roberts intended the poem to be set to music (or hoped), or just meant to suggest music, is more a matter of speculation or opinion; but I'd add that speculation and original opinion on a work is also welcome in a PPP article (unlike on Wikipedia, where everything must reference someone else), so I'd say include it, too. If hard facts ever emerge (like, say, a musical setting that hasn't made it to the web yet), they can always be added later.
> > We don't think he meant it as an actual song. We didn't see that he wrote other poems that were songs, although "The Maple" was set to music in the 2000s.
> I also don't think that he'd intended it to be an actual song, however, it could easily be set to music. I don't have a piano handy, but I can (not that I would subject anyone it) sing the melody.

Bring out the old "Greensleeves" and add a few extra notes.

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 6:08:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:04:03 PM UTC, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 5:23:08 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:42:28 PM UTC, George Dance wrote:
> > > > On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > > > > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > > > > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > > > > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > > > > > A Song for April
> > > > > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > > > > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > > > > > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > > > > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > > > > > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > > > > C - The willows adream
> > > > > > C - By the freshet stream
> > > > > > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > > > > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > > > > > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > > > > E - Coming to break
> > > > > > E - Their sleep and wake
> > > > > > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > > > > > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > > > > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > > > > > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > > > > G - The glad air sings
> > > > > > G - With dancing wings
> > > > > > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > > > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > > > > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > > > > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > > > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > > > > > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > > > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > > > > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > > > > > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> > > > > What say you also to this post, George Dance?
> > > > I enjoyed reading it, too. Whether Roberts intended the poem to be set to music (or hoped), or just meant to suggest music, is more a matter of speculation or opinion; but I'd add that speculation and original opinion on a work is also welcome in a PPP article (unlike on Wikipedia, where everything must reference someone else), so I'd say include it, too. If hard facts ever emerge (like, say, a musical setting that hasn't made it to the web yet), they can always be added later.
> > > We don't think he meant it as an actual song. We didn't see that he wrote other poems that were songs, although "The Maple" was set to music in the 2000s.
> > I also don't think that he'd intended it to be an actual song, however, it could easily be set to music. I don't have a piano handy, but I can (not that I would subject anyone it) sing the melody.
> Bring out the old "Greensleeves" and add a few extra notes.

My version is closer to the "Can-Can" (particularly in the sets of triple rhymes).

On Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 2:55:46 PM UTC-4, Will Dockery wrote:
> On Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 3:07:34 PM UTC-4, George Dance wrote:
> >
> > Today's poem on Penny's Poetry Blog:
> > A Song for April, by Charles G.D. Roberts
> > [...]
> > The south bank has had views of her;
> > The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > The willows adream
> > By the freshet stream
> > Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > [...]
> > https://gdancesbetty.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-song-of-april-charles-gd-roberts.html
> >
> > #pennyspoems
> Good afternoon, George.
>
> Again, good, and interesting, choice.

Agreed and seconded...!

On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 4:37:21 PM UTC-4, George Dance wrote:
> On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 7:08:07 PM UTC, NancyGene wrote:
> > >
> > > > We'll address the rhyme scheme in another post.
> > >
> > > > > George Dance, would you care to discuss the rhyme scheme of this poem? There are many repeats of "her" in the AAAABBA scheme in the first stanza, which is followed by AAACCA in the 2nd and AAAAADDA in the third.
> > > > I wouldn't agree with that. I'd give the rhyme scheme as:
> > > > ABBBCCB ADDEED AFFFGGF
> > > >
> > > > The reason being that the B, D, and F rhymes are not simply rhyming "her" with "her" (which wouldn't actually be rhymes.) The rhymes Roberts uses are more complex:
> > > >
> > > > B= "NEWS of her" "VIEWS of her" "DUES of her" "CHOOSE of her"
> > > >
> > > > D = "WORD of her" "HEARD of her" "BIRD of her"
> > > >
> > > > F = "NAME of her" "beCAME of her" "FLAME of her" acCLAIM of her".
> > > >
> > > > The A rhymes do rhyme with "her" as well as with each other, and I wouldn't call that "accidental" since it looks like Roberts intended that. It does give the poem a more musical effect.
> > > No, it is not accidental. Every word in a good poem should be there for a reason.
> > >
> > > We agree with your assessment on the rhyme scheme. If the reader looks more closely at the poem, he can see the word groupings that form the rhymes, and we think that Roberts had fun playing with the words:
> > > A Song for April
> > > Charles G.D. Roberts
> > > A - List! list! The buds confer.
> > > B - This noonday they’ve had news of her;
> > > B - The south bank has had views of her;
> > > B - The thorn shall exact his dues of her;
> > > C - The willows adream
> > > C - By the freshet stream
> > > B - Shall ask what boon they choose of her.
> > >
> > > A - Up! up! The world’s astir;
> > > D - The would-be green has word of her;
> > > D - Root and germ have heard of her,
> > > E - Coming to break
> > > E - Their sleep and wake
> > > D - Their hearts with every bird of her.
> > >
> > > A - See! see! How swift concur
> > > F - Sun, wind, and rain at the name of her,
> > > F - A-wondering what became of her;
> > > F - The fields flower at the flame of her;
> > > G - The glad air sings
> > > G - With dancing wings
> > > F - And the silvery shrill acclaim of her.
> > > > > Why do you think the second stanza only has six lines instead of the seven that the first and third have?
> > > > Good question; I don't have an answer. My first thought was that the website where I'd first encountered it had left out a line, or copied from one that did. (I've run into that before.) But I did find it in the 1901 poems, as I said, and that's how it appears there.
> > > We couldn’t find any early versions that had seven lines in the 2nd stanza either. Maybe he wanted a small change of pace in the stanza? He certainly would have counted the lines in the 3 stanzas.
> > > > > Do you think "her" should be capitalized?
> > > > >
> > > > I'm not sure. I thought of April as a goddess; in fact I used a sculpture of Diana to illustrate the poem. Capitalizing "her" would have made that explicit, but I can understand Roberts preferring to just suggest it.
> > > Michael advocates capitalizing seasons in the poems. We don’t necessarily agree with that but bow to his authority in the AYoS.
> > > > > Is this an actual song?
> > > > Not that I know of. I went looking for videos, but couldn't find any. Nor did the title turn up any songbooks for me.
> > > We assume that he is describing the sounds rather than the music of spring. We see in Merriam-Webster that meanings other than the obvious are: 2. poetical composition; 4. a distinctive or characteristic sound or series of sounds (as of a bird, insect, or whale).”
> > What say you also to this post, George Dance?
> Well, let me be completely honest: It was a good post. Your detailed illustration of the rhyme scheme must have taken a lot of work, and it certainly makes a good learning tool for someone encountering the poem.
>
> Just as your finding the poem's publishing history took a lot of work, and it also valuable scholarship.
>
> To sum up: you have worked hard in this thread, done your due diligence, and given us a lot of information. Too good, in fact, to just get buried in a thread on a social medium hardly anyone ever goes to any more.
>
> I would actually encourage you to go to Penny's Poetry Pages, create a new article on "A Song for April / Charles G.D. Roberts" (I use the same conventions for both blogged poems and wiki articles on poems), and put all of your research there. I would format it in the standard wiki style, link it to Roberts's own article, etc, but I would not leave your text. You might have to create an account and log in: the host site, Fandom has changed the rules to require that for commenting, and it might apply to editing as well.. I don't know; it's their call, not mine.
>
> I really don't expect you to do that, considering that you probably consider PPP to be "enemy territory", but I thought you deserved the offer, so I wanted to get it on here.

Well put.

:)