Waldeinsamkeit
I do not count the hours I spendIn wandering by the sea;The forest is my loyal friend,Like God it useth me.
In plains that room for shadows makeOf skirting hills to lie,Bound in by streams which give and takeTheir colors from the sky;
Or on the mountain-crest sublime,Or down the oaken glade,O what have I to do with time?For this the day was made.
Cities of mortals woe-begoneFantastic care derides,But in the serious landscape loneStern benefit abides.
Sheen will tarnish, honey cloy,And merry is only a mask of sad,But, sober on a fund of joy,The woods at heart are glad.
There the great Planter plantsOf fruitful worlds the grain,And with a million spells enchantsThe souls that walk in pain.
Still on the seeds of all he madeThe rose of beauty burns;Through times that wear and forms that fade,Immortal youth returns.
The black ducks mounting from the lake,The pigeon in the pines,The bittern's boom, a desert makeWhich no false art refines.
Down in yon watery nook,Where bearded mists divide,The gray old gods whom Chaos knew,The sires of Nature, hide.
Aloft, in secret veins of air,Blows the sweet breath of song,O, few to scale those uplands dare,Though they to all belong!
See thou bring not to field or stoneThe fancies found in books;Leave authors' eyes, and fetch your own,To brave the landscape's looks.
Oblivion here thy wisdom is,Thy thrift, the sleep of cares;For a proud idleness like thisCrowns all thy mean affairs.
Words in this poem
- skirting n.
- A skirting board.
- oaken a.
- Made or consisting of oaks or of the wood of oaks. [AS. acen.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- cloy v. t.
- To fill or choke up; to stop up; to clog. [OE. cloer to nail up, F. clouer, fr. OF. clo nail, F. clou, fr. L. clavus nail. Cf. 3d Clove.]
- planter n.
- One who, or that which, plants or sows; as, a planterof corn; a machine planter.
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Waldeinsamkeit is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Waldeinsamkeit, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/waldeinsamkeit.html, id L07469.
Form and metre
Waldeinsamkeit is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB spendA · seaB · friendA · meB
- 2 ABAB makeA · lieB · takeA · skyB
- 3 ABAB sublimeA · gladeB · timeA · madeB
- 4 -A-A begone · deridesA · lone · abidesA
- 5 ABAB cloyA · sadB · joyA · gladB
- 6 -A-A plants · grainA · enchants · painA
- 7 ABAB madeA · burnsB · fadeA · returnsB
- 8 ABAB lakeA · pinesB · makeA · refinesB
- 9 -A-A nook · divideA · knew · hideA
- 10 ABAB airA · songB · dareA · belongB
- 11 ABAB stoneA · booksB · ownA · looksB
- 12 -A-A is · caresA · this · affairsA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I do not count the hours I spend | 8 | ·····/·· |
| In wandering by the sea; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The forest is my loyal friend, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like God it useth me. | 6 | ······ |
| In plains that room for shadows make | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Of skirting hills to lie, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Bound in by streams which give and take | 8 | ········ |
| Their colors from the sky; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or on the mountain-crest sublime, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Or down the oaken glade, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O what have I to do with time? | 8 | ········ |
| For this the day was made. | 6 | ······ |
| Cities of mortals woe-begone | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Fantastic care derides, | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| But in the serious landscape lone | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Stern benefit abides. | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Sheen will tarnish, honey cloy, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And merry is only a mask of sad, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| But, sober on a fund of joy, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The woods at heart are glad. | 6 | ······ |
| There the great Planter plants | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of fruitful worlds the grain, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And with a million spells enchants | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The souls that walk in pain. | 6 | ······ |
| Still on the seeds of all he made | 8 | ········ |
| The rose of beauty burns; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Through times that wear and forms that fade, | 8 | ········ |
| Immortal youth returns. | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| The black ducks mounting from the lake, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pigeon in the pines, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The bittern's boom, a desert make | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which no false art refines. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Down in yon watery nook, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Where bearded mists divide, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The gray old gods whom Chaos knew, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sires of Nature, hide. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Aloft, in secret veins of air, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Blows the sweet breath of song, | 6 | ······ |
| O, few to scale those uplands dare, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Though they to all belong! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| See thou bring not to field or stone | 8 | ········ |
| The fancies found in books; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Leave authors' eyes, and fetch your own, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To brave the landscape's looks. | 6 | ···/·· |
| Oblivion here thy wisdom is, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Thy thrift, the sleep of cares; | 6 | ······ |
| For a proud idleness like this | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Crowns all thy mean affairs. | 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.