Waiting Afield at Dusk
WHAT things for dream there are when spectre-like,Moving among tall haycocks lightly piled,I enter alone upon the stubble field,From which the laborers' voices late have died,And in the antiphony of afterglowAnd rising full moon, sit me downUpon the full moon's side of the first haycockAnd lose myself amid so many alike.I dream upon the opposing lights of the hour,Preventing shadow until the moon prevail;I dream upon the night-hawks peopling heaven,Each circling each with vague unearthly cry,Or plunging headlong with fierce twang afar;And on the bat's mute antics, who would seemDimly to have made out my secret place,Only to lose it when he pirouettes,And seek it endlessly with purblind haste;On the last swallow's sweep; and on the raspIn the abyss of odor and rustle at my back,That, silenced by my advent, finds once more,After an interval, his instrument,And tries once--twice--and thrice if I be there;And on the worn book of old-golden songI brought not here to read, it seems, but holdAnd freshen in this air of withering sweetness;But on the memory of one absent most,For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye.
Words in this poem
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- antiphony n.
- A musical response; also, antiphonal chanting or signing. [See Antiphon.]
- haycock n.
- A conical pile or hear of hay in the field.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- unearthly a.
- Not terrestrial; supernatural; preternatural; hence, weird; appalling; terrific; as, an unearthly sight or sound.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- endlessly adv.
- In an endless manner.
- rustle v. i.
- To make a quick succession of small sounds, like the rubbing or moving of silk cloth or dry leaves. [AS. hristlan to rustle; or cf. Sw. rusta to stir, make a riot, or E. rush, v.]
- freshen v. t.
- To make fresh; to separate, as water, from saline ingredients; to make less salt; as, to freshen water, fish, or flesh.
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Waiting Afield at Dusk 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, Waiting Afield at Dusk, in A Boy's Will (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-boys-will/waiting-afield-at-dusk.html, id L04631.
Form and metre
Waiting Afield at Dusk is 27 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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 likeA · piled · field · died · afterglow · down · haycock · alikeA · hour · prevail · heaven · cryB · afar · seem · place · pirouettes · haste · rasp · back · more · instrument · there · song · hold · sweetness · most · eyeB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHAT things for dream there are when spectre-like, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Moving among tall haycocks lightly piled, | 10 | /˘···/·/˘· |
| I enter alone upon the stubble field, | 11 | ·/˘˘/···/˘· |
| From which the laborers' voices late have died, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And in the antiphony of afterglow | 11 | ···˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| And rising full moon, sit me down | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon the full moon's side of the first haycock | 11 | ·········/· |
| And lose myself amid so many alike. | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘/ |
| I dream upon the opposing lights of the hour, | 12 | ·····˘/˘···/ |
| Preventing shadow until the moon prevail; | 11 | ˘/˘/·····˘/ |
| I dream upon the night-hawks peopling heaven, | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Each circling each with vague unearthly cry, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Or plunging headlong with fierce twang afar; | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| And on the bat's mute antics, who would seem | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Dimly to have made out my secret place, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Only to lose it when he pirouettes, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| And seek it endlessly with purblind haste; | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| On the last swallow's sweep; and on the rasp | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In the abyss of odor and rustle at my back, | 13 | ··˘/·/˘·/˘··· |
| That, silenced by my advent, finds once more, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| After an interval, his instrument, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| And tries once--twice--and thrice if I be there; | 10 | ·········· |
| And on the worn book of old-golden song | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I brought not here to read, it seems, but hold | 10 | ·········· |
| And freshen in this air of withering sweetness; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| But on the memory of one absent most, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye. | 10 | ·········· |
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.