The Window on the Hill
Among the fields the camomileSeems blown mist in the lightning's glare:Cool, rainy odors drench the air;Night speaks above; the angry smileOf storm within her stare.
The way that I shall take to-nightIs through the wood whose branches fillThe road with double darkness, till,Between the boughs, a window's lightShines out upon the hill.
The fence; and then the path that goesAround a trailer-tangled rock,Through puckered pink and hollyhock,Unto a latch-gate's unkempt rose,And door whereat I knock.
Bright on the oldtime flower placeThe lamp streams through the foggy pane;The door is opened to the rain:And in the door--her happy faceAnd outstretched arms again.
Words in this poem
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- 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,]
- hollyhock n.
- A species of Althæa (A. rosea), bearing flowers of various colors; -- called also rose mallow. [OE. holihoc; holi holy + hoc mallow, AS. hoc; cf. W. hocys mallows, hocys bendigaid hollyhock, lit., blessed mallow. Prob. so named because brought from the Hol]
- unkempt a.
- Not combed; disheveled; as, an urchin with unkempt hair. [Pref. un- not + kempt, p. p. of kemb.]
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Window on the Hill 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, The Window on the Hill, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-window-on-the-hill.html, id L10905.
Form and metre
The Window on the Hill is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 40% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -AA-A camomile · glareA · airA · smile · stareA
- 2 ABBAB nightA · fillB · tillB · lightA · hillB
- 3 ABBAB goesA · rockB · hollyhockB · roseA · knockB
- 4 ABBAB placeA · paneB · rainB · faceA · againB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Among the fields the camomile | 9 | ········· |
| Seems blown mist in the lightning's glare: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Cool, rainy odors drench the air; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Night speaks above; the angry smile | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of storm within her stare. | 6 | ······ |
| The way that I shall take to-night | 8 | ········ |
| Is through the wood whose branches fill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The road with double darkness, till, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Between the boughs, a window's light | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shines out upon the hill. | 6 | ······ |
| The fence; and then the path that goes | 8 | ········ |
| Around a trailer-tangled rock, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Through puckered pink and hollyhock, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Unto a latch-gate's unkempt rose, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| And door whereat I knock. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Bright on the oldtime flower place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The lamp streams through the foggy pane; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The door is opened to the rain: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in the door--her happy face | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And outstretched arms again. | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
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.