The Evening Wind
Spirit that breathest through my lattice, thouThat cool'st the twilight of the sultry day,Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow:Thou hast been out upon the deep at play,Riding all day the wild blue waves till now,Roughening their crests, and scattering high their sprayAnd swelling the white sail. I welcome theeTo the scorched land, thou wanderer of the sea!
Nor I alone--a thousand bosoms roundInhale thee in the fulness of delight;And languid forms rise up, and pulses boundLivelier, at coming of the wind of night;And, languishing to hear thy grateful sound,Lies the vast inland stretched beyond the sight.Go forth into the gathering shade; go forth,God's blessing breathed upon the fainting earth!
Go, rock the little wood-bird in his nest,Curl the still waters, bright with stars, and rouseThe wide old wood from his majestic rest,Summoning from the innumerable boughsThe strange, deep harmonies that haunt his breast:Pleasant shall be thy way where meekly bowsThe shutting flower, and darkling waters pass,And where the o'ershadowing branches sweep the grass.
The faint old man shall lean his silver headTo feel thee; thou shalt kiss the child asleep,And dry the moistened curls that overspreadHis temples, while his breathing grows more deep:And they who stand about the sick man's bed,Shall joy to listen to thy distant sweep,And softly part his curtains to allowThy visit, grateful to his burning brow.
Go--but the circle of eternal change,Which is the life of nature, shall restore,With sounds and scents from all thy mighty rangeThee to thy birthplace of the deep once more;Sweet odours in the sea-air, sweet and strange,Shall tell the home-sick mariner of the shore;And, listening to thy murmur, he shall deemHe hears the rustling leaf and running stream.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- meekly adv.
- In a meek manner.
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- birthplace n.
- The town, city, or country, where a person is born; place of origin or birth, in its more general sense.
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Evening Wind is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, The Evening Wind, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-evening-wind.html, id L07314.
Form and metre
The Evening Wind is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABABCC, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas; the stanza is the Ottava rima. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in ottava rima, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABABCC thouA · dayB · browA · playB · nowA · sprayB · theeC · seaC
- 2 ABABAB-- roundA · delightB · boundA · nightB · soundA · sightB · forth · earth
- 3 ABABABCC nestA · rouseB · restA · boughsB · breastA · bowsB · passC · grassC
- 4 ABABABCC headA · asleepB · overspreadA · deepB · bedA · sweepB · allowC · browC
- 5 ABABABCC changeA · restoreB · rangeA · moreB · strangeA · shoreB · deemC · streamC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit that breathest through my lattice, thou | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| That cool'st the twilight of the sultry day, | 11 | ·/˘·/···/˘· |
| Gratefully flows thy freshness round my brow: | 10 | /˘˘··/˘··· |
| Thou hast been out upon the deep at play, | 10 | ·········· |
| Riding all day the wild blue waves till now, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Roughening their crests, and scattering high their spray | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| And swelling the white sail. I welcome thee | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| To the scorched land, thou wanderer of the sea! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor I alone--a thousand bosoms round | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Inhale thee in the fulness of delight; | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| And languid forms rise up, and pulses bound | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Livelier, at coming of the wind of night; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And, languishing to hear thy grateful sound, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Lies the vast inland stretched beyond the sight. | 10 | ···/······ |
| Go forth into the gathering shade; go forth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| God's blessing breathed upon the fainting earth! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Go, rock the little wood-bird in his nest, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Curl the still waters, bright with stars, and rouse | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The wide old wood from his majestic rest, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Summoning from the innumerable boughs | 10 | /˘··˘/˘˘˘· |
| The strange, deep harmonies that haunt his breast: | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Pleasant shall be thy way where meekly bows | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| The shutting flower, and darkling waters pass, | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And where the o'ershadowing branches sweep the grass. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| The faint old man shall lean his silver head | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To feel thee; thou shalt kiss the child asleep, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And dry the moistened curls that overspread | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| His temples, while his breathing grows more deep: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And they who stand about the sick man's bed, | 10 | ·········· |
| Shall joy to listen to thy distant sweep, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And softly part his curtains to allow | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Thy visit, grateful to his burning brow. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Go--but the circle of eternal change, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Which is the life of nature, shall restore, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| With sounds and scents from all thy mighty range | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thee to thy birthplace of the deep once more; | 10 | ···/······ |
| Sweet odours in the sea-air, sweet and strange, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Shall tell the home-sick mariner of the shore; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And, listening to thy murmur, he shall deem | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| He hears the rustling leaf and running stream. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.