A Line-storm Song
THE line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift,The road is forlorn all day,Where a myriad snowy quartz stones lift,And the hoof-prints vanish away.The roadside flowers, too wet for the bee,Expend their bloom in vain.Come over the hills and far with me,And be my love in the rain.The birds have less to say for themselvesIn the wood-world's torn despairThan now these numberless years the elves,Although they are no less there:All song of the woods is crushed like someWild, easily shattered rose.Come, be my love in the wet woods; come,Where the boughs rain when it blows.There is the gale to urge behindAnd bruit our singing down,And the shallow waters aflutter with windFrom which to gather your gown.What matter if we go clear to the west,And come not through dry-shod?For wilding brooch shall wet your breastThe rain-fresh goldenrod.Oh, never this whelming east wind swellsBut it seems like the sea's returnTo the ancient lands where it left the shellsBefore the age of the fern;And it seems like the time when after doubtOur love came back amain.Oh, come forth into the storm and routAnd be my love in the rain.
Words in this poem
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- roadside n.
- Land adjoining a road or highway; the part of a road or highway that borders the traveled part. Also used ajectively.
- numberless a.
- Innumerable; countless.
- bruit n.
- Report; rumor; fame. [OE. bruit, brut, noise, bruit, F. bruit, fr. LL. brugitus; cf. L. rugire to roar; perh. influenced by the source of E. bray to make a harsh noise, Armor. brud b]
- aflutter adv.
- In a flutter; agitated. [Pref. a- + flutter.]
- wilding a.
- Not tame, domesticated, or cultivated; wild.
- 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,]
- amain adv.
- With might; with full force; vigorously; violently; exceedingly. [Pref. a- + main. See 2d Main, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Line-storm Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Boy's Will, Project Gutenberg ebook #3021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Frost, A Line-storm Song, in A Boy's Will (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-boys-will/a-line-storm-song.html, id L04646.
Form and metre
A Line-storm Song is 32 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMNOPOP. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 34% 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMNOPOP swiftA · dayB · liftA · awayB · beeC · vainD · meC · rainD · themselvesE · despairF · elvesE · thereF · someG · roseH · comeG · blowsH · behindI · downJ · windI · gownJ · westK · shodL · breastK · goldenrodL · swellsM · returnN · shellsM · fernN · doubtO · amainP · routO · rainP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THE line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| The road is forlorn all day, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Where a myriad snowy quartz stones lift, | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| And the hoof-prints vanish away. | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| The roadside flowers, too wet for the bee, | 9 | ·/·/····· |
| Expend their bloom in vain. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Come over the hills and far with me, | 8 | ········ |
| And be my love in the rain. | 7 | ······· |
| The birds have less to say for themselves | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| In the wood-world's torn despair | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Than now these numberless years the elves, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Although they are no less there: | 7 | ······· |
| All song of the woods is crushed like some | 9 | ········· |
| Wild, easily shattered rose. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Come, be my love in the wet woods; come, | 9 | ········· |
| Where the boughs rain when it blows. | 7 | ······· |
| There is the gale to urge behind | 8 | ········ |
| And bruit our singing down, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And the shallow waters aflutter with wind | 11 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| From which to gather your gown. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| What matter if we go clear to the west, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And come not through dry-shod? | 6 | ······ |
| For wilding brooch shall wet your breast | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The rain-fresh goldenrod. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Oh, never this whelming east wind swells | 8 | ·/······ |
| But it seems like the sea's return | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To the ancient lands where it left the shells | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Before the age of the fern; | 7 | ······· |
| And it seems like the time when after doubt | 10 | ·········· |
| Our love came back amain. | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Oh, come forth into the storm and rout | 9 | ········· |
| And be my love in the rain. | 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.