In a Vale
WHEN I was young, we dwelt in a valeBy a misty fen that rang all night,And thus it was the maidens paleI knew so well, whose garments trailAcross the reeds to a window light.The fen had every kind of bloom,And for every kind there was a face,And a voice that has sounded in my roomAcross the sill from the outer gloom.Each came singly unto her place,But all came every night with the mist;And often they brought so much to sayOf things of moment to which, they wist,One so lonely was fain to list,That the stars were almost faded awayBefore the last went, heavy with dew,Back to the place from which she came--Where the bird was before it flew,Where the flower was before it grew,Where bird and flower were one and the same.And thus it is I know so wellWhy the flower has odor, the bird has song.You have only to ask me, and I can tell.No, not vainly there did I dwell,Nor vainly listen all the night long.
Words in this poem
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In a Vale 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, In a Vale, in A Boy's Will (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-boys-will/in-a-vale.html, id L04632.
Form and metre
In a Vale is 25 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABAABCDCCDEFEEFGHGGHIJIIJ. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 28% 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 ABAABCDCCDEFEEFGHGGHIJIIJ valeA · nightB · paleA · trailA · lightB · bloomC · faceD · roomC · gloomC · placeD · mistE · sayF · wistE · listE · awayF · dewG · cameH · flewG · grewG · sameH · wellI · songJ · tellI · dwellI · longJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN I was young, we dwelt in a vale | 9 | ········· |
| By a misty fen that rang all night, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And thus it was the maidens pale | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I knew so well, whose garments trail | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Across the reeds to a window light. | 9 | ˘/····/˘· |
| The fen had every kind of bloom, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And for every kind there was a face, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And a voice that has sounded in my room | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Across the sill from the outer gloom. | 8 | ˘/····/· |
| Each came singly unto her place, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| But all came every night with the mist; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And often they brought so much to say | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Of things of moment to which, they wist, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| One so lonely was fain to list, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| That the stars were almost faded away | 10 | ····/·/˘˘/ |
| Before the last went, heavy with dew, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Back to the place from which she came-- | 8 | ········ |
| Where the bird was before it flew, | 8 | ········ |
| Where the flower was before it grew, | 8 | ··/····· |
| Where bird and flower were one and the same. | 9 | ···/····· |
| And thus it is I know so well | 8 | ········ |
| Why the flower has odor, the bird has song. | 10 | ··/·/˘···· |
| You have only to ask me, and I can tell. | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| No, not vainly there did I dwell, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Nor vainly listen all the night long. | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
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.