All day I run before a wind
All day I run before a wind,Keen and blue and without end,Like a fox before the houndsAcross the mellow sun-shot downsThat smell like crispened warm fresh bread;And the sky stretched overheadHas drawn across its face a veilOf gold and purple. My limbs failAnd I plunge panting down to restUpon earth's sharp and burning breast.I lie flat, and feel its coldBeating heart that's never old,And yet has felt the ages passAbove its heather, trees, and grass.The azure veils fall from the skyAnd on the world's rim shimmering lie,While the bluely flashing seaPulses through infinitely.
Up! Away! Now I will goTo some orchard's golden rowOf bursting mellow pears and sweetBerries and dusky grapes to eat.I singing crush them to my lips,Staining cheek and fingertips,Then fill my hands, I know not why,And off again along the skyDown through the trees, beside the streamVeiled too, and golden as a dream,To lie once more in some warm gladeDeep walled by the purple shadeMy fruits beside, and so I lieIn thin sun sifting from the skyLike a cloak to cover me:I sink in sleep resistlesslyWhile the sun slides smoothly downThe west, and green dusk closes roundMy glade that the sun filled upAs gold wine stands within a cup.
Words in this poem
- shimmering n.
- A gleam or glimmering.
- bluely adv.
- With a blue color.
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- 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 ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
All day I run before a wind is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Marble Faun, Wikisource; 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 Faulkner, All day I run before a wind, in The Marble Faun (1924), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/faulkner-marble-faun/section-12.html, id L28624.
Form and metre
All day I run before a wind is 38 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 ----AABBCCDDEEFFF- wind · end · hounds · downs · breadA · overheadA · veilB · failB · restC · breastC · coldD · oldD · passE · grassE · skyF · lieF · seaF · infinitely
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFDDD---GG goA · rowA · sweetB · eatB · lipsC · fingertipsC · whyD · skyD · streamE · dreamE · gladeF · shadeF · lieD · skyD · meD · resistlessly · down · round · upG · cupG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All day I run before a wind, | 8 | ········ |
| Keen and blue and without end, | 7 | ······· |
| Like a fox before the hounds | 7 | ······· |
| Across the mellow sun-shot downs | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| That smell like crispened warm fresh bread; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the sky stretched overhead | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Has drawn across its face a veil | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Of gold and purple. My limbs fail | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And I plunge panting down to rest | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon earth's sharp and burning breast. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I lie flat, and feel its cold | 7 | ······· |
| Beating heart that's never old, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And yet has felt the ages pass | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above its heather, trees, and grass. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The azure veils fall from the sky | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And on the world's rim shimmering lie, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| While the bluely flashing sea | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Pulses through infinitely. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘˘ |
| Up! Away! Now I will go | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| To some orchard's golden row | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Of bursting mellow pears and sweet | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Berries and dusky grapes to eat. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| I singing crush them to my lips, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Staining cheek and fingertips, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Then fill my hands, I know not why, | 8 | ········ |
| And off again along the sky | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Down through the trees, beside the stream | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Veiled too, and golden as a dream, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To lie once more in some warm glade | 8 | ········ |
| Deep walled by the purple shade | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| My fruits beside, and so I lie | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| In thin sun sifting from the sky | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like a cloak to cover me: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I sink in sleep resistlessly | 8 | ········ |
| While the sun slides smoothly down | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The west, and green dusk closes round | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My glade that the sun filled up | 8 | ······˘· |
| As gold wine stands within a cup. | 8 | ········ |
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.