October
O HUSHED October morning mild,Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;To-morrow's wind, if it be wild,Should waste them all.The crows above the forest call;To-morrow they may form and go.O hushed October morning mild,Begin the hours of this day slow,Make the day seem to us less brief.Hearts not averse to being beguiled,Beguile us in the way you know;Release one leaf at break of day;At noon release another leaf;One from our trees, one far away;Retard the sun with gentle mist;Enchant the land with amethyst.Slow, slow!For the grapes' sake, if they were all,Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,Whose clustered fruit must else be lost--For the grapes' sake along the wall.
Words in this poem
- averse a.
- Turned away or backward. [L. aversus, p. p. of avertere. See Avert.]
- enchant v. t.
- To charm by sorcery; to act on by enchantment; to get control of by magical words and rites. [F. enchanter, L. incantare to chant or utter a magic formula over or against one, to bewitch; in in, against + cantare to sing. See Chant, and cf. Incantation.]
- amethyst
- A variety of crystallized quartz, of a purple or bluish violet color, of different shades. It is much used as a jeweler's stone. [F. ametiste, amatiste, F. améthyste, L. amethystus, fr. Gr. Mead.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
October 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, October, in A Boy's Will (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-boys-will/october.html, id L04647.
Form and metre
October is 21 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCACDACEDEFFCBGGB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABABBCACDACEDEFFCBGGB mildA · fallB · wildA · allB · callB · goC · mildA · slowC · briefD · beguiledA · knowC · dayE · leafD · awayE · mistF · amethystF · slowC · allB · frostG · lostG · wallB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O HUSHED October morning mild, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To-morrow's wind, if it be wild, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Should waste them all. | 4 | ···· |
| The crows above the forest call; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To-morrow they may form and go. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O hushed October morning mild, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Begin the hours of this day slow, | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| Make the day seem to us less brief. | 8 | ········ |
| Hearts not averse to being beguiled, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘/ |
| Beguile us in the way you know; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Release one leaf at break of day; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| At noon release another leaf; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| One from our trees, one far away; | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Retard the sun with gentle mist; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Enchant the land with amethyst. | 8 | ˘/···/˘˘ |
| Slow, slow! | 2 | ·· |
| For the grapes' sake, if they were all, | 8 | ········ |
| Whose leaves already are burnt with frost, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Whose clustered fruit must else be lost-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For the grapes' sake along the wall. | 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.