All the air is gray with rain
All the air is gray with rainAbove the shaken fields of grain,Cherry orchards moveless dripListening to their blossoms slipQuietly from wet black boughs.There a soaking broad-thatched houseSteams contemplatively. ISit beneath the weeping skyCrouched about the mountains' rimDrawing her loose hair over them.
My eyes, peace-filled by falling rain,Brood upon the steamy plain,Crouched beneath a dripping treeWhere strong and damp rise up to meThe odors of the bursting moldUpon the earth's slow-breathing oldBreast; of acorns swelling tightTo thrust green shoots into the lightAs shade for me in years to comeWhen my eyes grow dim and I am dumbWith sun-soaked age and lack of strengthOf things that have lived out the lengthOf life; and when the nameless painTo fuller live and know againNo more will send me over earthPuzzling about the worthOf this and that, nor crying "Hence!"At my unseeking impotenceTo have about my eyes close-furledAll the beauty in the world.But content to watch by dayThe dancing light's unthinking playRuffling the pool. Then I'll beBeneath the roses. sleepilySoaking in the sun-drenched airWithout wish or will or care,With my softened fading eyesShackled to the curving skies.
Words in this poem
- moveless a.
- Motionless; fixed.
- drip v. i.
- To fall in drops; as, water drips from the eaves. [Akin to LG. drippen, Dan. dryppe, from a noun. See Drop.]
- contemplatively adv.
- With contemplation; in a contemplative manner.
- crouched a.
- Marked with the sign of the cross. Crouched friar. See Crutched friar, under Crutched.
- steamy a.
- Consisting of, or resembling, steam; full of steam; vaporous; misty.
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- impotence n.
- The quality or condition of being impotent; want of strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral; weakness; feebleness; inability; imbecility. [L. impotenia inability, poverty, want of moderation. See Impotent.]
- unthinking a.
- Not thinking; not heedful; thoughtless; inconsiderate; as, unthinking youth.
- sleepily adv.
- In a sleepy manner; drowsily.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
All the air is gray with rain 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 the air is gray with rain, in The Marble Faun (1924), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/faulkner-marble-faun/section-3.html, id L28615.
Form and metre
All the air is gray with rain is 38 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 84% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABB--CC-- rainA · grainA · dripB · slipB · boughs · house · iC · skyC · rim · them
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFAAGGHHIIJJB-KKLL rainA · plainA · treeB · meB · moldC · oldC · tightD · lightD · comeE · dumbE · strengthF · lengthF · painA · againA · earthG · worthG · henceH · impotenceH · furledI · worldI · dayJ · playJ · beB · sleepily · airK · careK · eyesL · skiesL
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 the air is gray with rain | 7 | ······· |
| Above the shaken fields of grain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Cherry orchards moveless drip | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Listening to their blossoms slip | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Quietly from wet black boughs. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| There a soaking broad-thatched house | 8 | ··/˘··˘· |
| Steams contemplatively. I | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘· |
| Sit beneath the weeping sky | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Crouched about the mountains' rim | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Drawing her loose hair over them. | 8 | /˘······ |
| My eyes, peace-filled by falling rain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Brood upon the steamy plain, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Crouched beneath a dripping tree | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Where strong and damp rise up to me | 8 | ········ |
| The odors of the bursting mold | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Upon the earth's slow-breathing old | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Breast; of acorns swelling tight | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| To thrust green shoots into the light | 8 | ········ |
| As shade for me in years to come | 8 | ········ |
| When my eyes grow dim and I am dumb | 9 | ········· |
| With sun-soaked age and lack of strength | 8 | ········ |
| Of things that have lived out the length | 8 | ········ |
| Of life; and when the nameless pain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To fuller live and know again | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| No more will send me over earth | 8 | ········ |
| Puzzling about the worth | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Of this and that, nor crying "Hence!" | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At my unseeking impotence | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| To have about my eyes close-furled | 8 | ········ |
| All the beauty in the world. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But content to watch by day | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The dancing light's unthinking play | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Ruffling the pool. Then I'll be | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Beneath the roses. sleepily | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Soaking in the sun-drenched air | 8 | /˘····˘· |
| Without wish or will or care, | 7 | ······· |
| With my softened fading eyes | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Shackled to the curving skies. | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
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