Dusk
Corn-colored clouds upon a sky of gold,And 'mid their sheaves,--where, like a daisy-bloomLeft by the reapers to the gathering gloom,The star of twilight glows,--as Ruth, 'tis told,Dreamed homesick 'mid the harvest fields of old,The Dusk goes gleaning color and perfumeFrom Bible slopes of heaven, that illumeHer pensive beauty deep in shadows stoled.Hushed is the forest; and blue vale and hillAre still, save for the brooklet, sleepilyStumbling the stone with one foam-fluttering foot:Save for the note of one far whippoorwill,And in my heart her name,--like some sweet beeWithin a rose,--blowing a faery flute.
Words in this poem
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- homesick a.
- Pining for home; in a nostalgic condition.
- gleaning n.
- The act of gathering after reapers; that which is collected by gleaning.
- illume v. t.
- To throw or spread light upon; to make light or bright; to illuminate; to illumine. [Cf. F. illuminer. See Illuminate.]
- stoled a.
- Having or wearing a stole.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- sleepily adv.
- In a sleepy manner; drowsily.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dusk is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, Dusk, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/dusk.html, id L10964.
Form and metre
Dusk is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABBAABBAC--C-- goldA · bloomB · gloomB · toldA · oldA · perfumeB · illumeB · stoledA · hillC · sleepily · foot · whippoorwillC · bee · flute
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Corn-colored clouds upon a sky of gold, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And 'mid their sheaves,--where, like a daisy-bloom | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Left by the reapers to the gathering gloom, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The star of twilight glows,--as Ruth, 'tis told, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Dreamed homesick 'mid the harvest fields of old, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| The Dusk goes gleaning color and perfume | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| From Bible slopes of heaven, that illume | 9 | ·/˘··/·˘/ |
| Her pensive beauty deep in shadows stoled. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| Hushed is the forest; and blue vale and hill | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Are still, save for the brooklet, sleepily | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Stumbling the stone with one foam-fluttering foot: | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Save for the note of one far whippoorwill, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And in my heart her name,--like some sweet bee | 10 | ·········· |
| Within a rose,--blowing a faery flute. | 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.