Spoils of the Dead
TWO fairies it wasOn a still summer dayCame forth in the woodsWith the flowers to play.The flowers they pluckedThey cast on the groundFor others, and thoseFor still others they found.Flower-guided it wasThat they came as they ranOn something that layIn the shape of a man.The snow must have madeThe feathery bedWhen this one fellOn the sleep of the dead.But the snow was goneA long time ago,And the body he woreNigh gone with the snow.The fairies drew nearAnd keenly espiedA ring on his handAnd a chain at his side.They knelt in the leavesAnd eerily playedWith the glittering things,And were not afraid.And when they went homeTo hide in their burrow,They took them alongTo play with to-morrow.When you came on death,Did you not come flower-guidedLike the elves in the wood?I remember that I did.But I recognised deathWith sorrow and dread,And I hated and hateThe spoils of the dead.
Words in this poem
- keenly adv.
- In a keen manner.
- eerily adv.
- In a strange, unearthly way.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spoils of the Dead 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, Spoils of the Dead, in A Boy's Will (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-boys-will/spoils-of-the-dead.html, id L04642.
Form and metre
Spoils of the Dead is 40 lines in a single stanza. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.5 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 60% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 -A-A-B-B-C-C-D-D-E-E-F-F-G-G-----HHH-H-H was · dayA · woods · playA · plucked · groundB · those · foundB · was · ranC · lay · manC · made · bedD · fell · deadD · gone · agoE · wore · snowE · near · espiedF · hand · sideF · leaves · playedG · things · afraidG · home · burrow · along · morrow · death · guidedH · woodH · didH · death · dreadH · hate · deadH
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| TWO fairies it was | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| On a still summer day | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Came forth in the woods | 5 | ····· |
| With the flowers to play. | 5 | ··/·· |
| The flowers they plucked | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| They cast on the ground | 5 | ····· |
| For others, and those | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| For still others they found. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Flower-guided it was | 5 | //˘·· |
| That they came as they ran | 6 | ······ |
| On something that lay | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| In the shape of a man. | 6 | ······ |
| The snow must have made | 5 | ····· |
| The feathery bed | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| When this one fell | 4 | ···· |
| On the sleep of the dead. | 6 | ······ |
| But the snow was gone | 5 | ····· |
| A long time ago, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| And the body he wore | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Nigh gone with the snow. | 5 | ····· |
| The fairies drew near | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And keenly espied | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A ring on his hand | 5 | ····· |
| And a chain at his side. | 6 | ······ |
| They knelt in the leaves | 5 | ····· |
| And eerily played | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| With the glittering things, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And were not afraid. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| And when they went home | 5 | ····· |
| To hide in their burrow, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| They took them along | 5 | ···˘/ |
| To play with to-morrow. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| When you came on death, | 5 | ····· |
| Did you not come flower-guided | 7 | ····//˘ |
| Like the elves in the wood? | 6 | ······ |
| I remember that I did. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| But I recognised death | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| With sorrow and dread, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And I hated and hate | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| The spoils of the dead. | 5 | ····· |
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.