Asking for Roses
A HOUSE that lacks, seemingly, mistress and master,With doors that none but the wind ever closes,Its floor all littered with glass and with plaster;It stands in a garden of old-fashioned roses.I pass by that way in the gloaming with Mary;'I wonder,' I say, 'who the owner of those is.'Oh, no one you know,' she answers me airy,'But one we must ask if we want any roses.'So we must join hands in the dew coming coldlyThere in the hush of the wood that reposes,And turn and go up to the open door boldly,And knock to the echoes as beggars for roses.'Pray, are you within there, Mistress Who-were-you?''Tis Mary that speaks and our errand discloses.'Pray, are you within there? Bestir you, bestir you!'Tis summer again; there's two come for roses.'A word with you, that of the singer recalling--Old Herrick: a saying that every maid knows isA flower unplucked is but left to the falling,And nothing is gained by not gathering roses.'We do not loosen our hands' intertwining(Not caring so very much what she supposes),There when she comes on us mistily shiningAnd grants us by silence the boon of her roses.
Words in this poem
- seemingly adv.
- In appearance; in show; in semblance; apparently; ostensibly.
- gloaming n.
- Twilight; dusk; the fall of the evening. [Scot. & North of Eng., and in poetry.] Hogg. [See Gloom.]
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- bestir v. t.
- To put into brisk or vigorous action; to move with life and vigor; -- usually with the reciprocal pronoun.
- mistily adv.
- With mist; darkly; obscurely.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Asking for Roses 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, Asking for Roses, in A Boy's Will (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-boys-will/asking-for-roses.html, id L04630.
Form and metre
Asking for Roses is 24 lines in a single stanza. 76% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.5 syllables. 20 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCBEBEBFBFB-D-BGBGB masterA · closesB · plasterA · rosesB · maryC · isD · airyC · rosesB · coldlyE · reposesB · boldlyE · rosesB · youF · disclosesB · youF · rosesB · recalling · isD · falling · rosesB · intertwiningG · supposesB · shiningG · rosesB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A HOUSE that lacks, seemingly, mistress and master, | 12 | ····/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| With doors that none but the wind ever closes, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Its floor all littered with glass and with plaster; | 12 | ···/˘˘····/˘ |
| It stands in a garden of old-fashioned roses. | 12 | ····/˘··/˘/˘ |
| I pass by that way in the gloaming with Mary; | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| 'I wonder,' I say, 'who the owner of those is. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| 'Oh, no one you know,' she answers me airy, | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| 'But one we must ask if we want any roses.' | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| So we must join hands in the dew coming coldly | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| There in the hush of the wood that reposes, | 11 | ········/·˘ |
| And turn and go up to the open door boldly, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| And knock to the echoes as beggars for roses. | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| 'Pray, are you within there, Mistress Who-were-you?' | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| 'Tis Mary that speaks and our errand discloses. | 13 | ·/˘···/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| 'Pray, are you within there? Bestir you, bestir you! | 12 | ······˘/·˘/· |
| 'Tis summer again; there's two come for roses. | 11 | ·/˘˘/····/˘ |
| 'A word with you, that of the singer recalling-- | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
| Old Herrick: a saying that every maid knows is | 12 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘··· |
| A flower unplucked is but left to the falling, | 12 | ·/˘·······/˘ |
| And nothing is gained by not gathering roses.' | 12 | ·/˘····/˘˘/˘ |
| We do not loosen our hands' intertwining | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘·˘ |
| (Not caring so very much what she supposes), | 12 | ·/˘·/˘···˘/˘ |
| There when she comes on us mistily shining | 11 | ······/˘˘/˘ |
| And grants us by silence the boon of her roses. | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
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.