Winter Dusk
Dark frost was in the air without,The dusk was still with cold and gloom,When less than even a shadow cameAnd stood within the room.
But of the three around the fire,None turned a questioning head to look,Still read a clear voice, on and on,Still stooped they o'er their book.
The children watched their mother's eyesMoving on softly line to line;It seemed to listen too--that shade,Yet made no outward sign.
The fire-flames crooned a tiny song,No cold wind moved the wintry tree;The children both in Faërie dreamedBeside their mother's knee.
And nearer yet that spirit drewAbove that heedless one, intentOnly on what the simple wordsOf her small story meant.
No voiceless sorrow grieved her mind,No memory her bosom stirred,Nor dreamed she, as she read to two,'Twas surely three who heard.
Yet when, the story done, she smiledFrom face to face, serene and clear,A love, half dread, sprang up, as sheLeaned close and drew them near.
Words in this poem
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- voiceless a.
- Having no voice, utterance, or vote; silent; mute; dumb.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Winter Dusk is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Listeners and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22569; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter de la Mare, Winter Dusk, in The Listeners and Other Poems (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22569, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-listeners/winter-dusk.html, id L17108.
Form and metre
Winter Dusk is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 29% 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 -A-A without · gloomA · came · roomA
- 2 -A-A fire · lookA · on · bookA
- 3 -A-A eyes · lineA · shade · signA
- 4 -A-A song · treeA · dreamed · kneeA
- 5 -A-A drew · intentA · words · meantA
- 6 -A-A mind · stirredA · two · heardA
- 7 -A-A smiled · clearA · she · nearA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dark frost was in the air without, | 8 | ········ |
| The dusk was still with cold and gloom, | 8 | ········ |
| When less than even a shadow came | 8 | ···/·/·· |
| And stood within the room. | 6 | ······ |
| But of the three around the fire, | 8 | ·······/ |
| None turned a questioning head to look, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still read a clear voice, on and on, | 8 | ········ |
| Still stooped they o'er their book. | 6 | ······ |
| The children watched their mother's eyes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Moving on softly line to line; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| It seemed to listen too--that shade, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet made no outward sign. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The fire-flames crooned a tiny song, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| No cold wind moved the wintry tree; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The children both in Faërie dreamed | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Beside their mother's knee. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And nearer yet that spirit drew | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| Above that heedless one, intent | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Only on what the simple words | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Of her small story meant. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| No voiceless sorrow grieved her mind, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| No memory her bosom stirred, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Nor dreamed she, as she read to two, | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twas surely three who heard. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yet when, the story done, she smiled | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From face to face, serene and clear, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A love, half dread, sprang up, as she | 8 | ········ |
| Leaned close and drew them near. | 6 | ······ |
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.