Loneliness
One ought not to have to careSo much as you and ICare when the birds come round the houseTo seem to say good-bye;
Or care so much when they come backWith whatever it is they sing;The truth being we are as muchToo glad for the one thing
As we are too sad for the other here--With birds that fill their breastsBut with each other and themselvesAnd their built or driven nests.
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Loneliness is in the public domain. This text is taken from Mountain Interval, Project Gutenberg ebook #29345; 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, Loneliness, in Mountain Interval (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29345, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-mountain-interval/loneliness.html, id L02655.
Form and metre
Loneliness is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 67% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 care · iA · house · byeA
- 2 -A-A back · singA · much · thingA
- 3 -A-A here · breastsA · themselves · nestsA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One ought not to have to care | 7 | ······· |
| So much as you and I | 6 | ······ |
| Care when the birds come round the house | 8 | ········ |
| To seem to say good-bye; | 6 | ······ |
| Or care so much when they come back | 8 | ········ |
| With whatever it is they sing; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| The truth being we are as much | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Too glad for the one thing | 6 | ······ |
| As we are too sad for the other here-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With birds that fill their breasts | 6 | ······ |
| But with each other and themselves | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And their built or driven nests. | 7 | ····/˘· |
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.