The Sound of the Trees
I wonder about the trees.Why do we wish to bearForever the noise of theseMore than another noiseSo close to our dwelling place?We suffer them by the dayTill we lose all measure of pace,And fixity in our joys,And acquire a listening air.They are that that talks of goingBut never gets away;And that talks no less for knowing,As it grows wiser and older,That now it means to stay.My feet tug at the floorAnd my head sways to my shoulderSometimes when I watch trees sway,From the window or the door.I shall set forth for somewhere,I shall make the reckless choiceSome day when they are in voiceAnd tossing so as to scareThe white clouds over them on.I shall have less to say,But I shall be gone.
Words in this poem
- fixity n.
- Fixedness; as, fixity of tenure; also, that which is fixed. [Cf. F. fixité.]
- 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,]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sound of the Trees 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, The Sound of the Trees, in Mountain Interval (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29345, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-mountain-interval/the-sound-of-the-trees.html, id L02669.
Form and metre
The Sound of the Trees is 25 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABACDEDCBFEFGEHGEHBIIBJEJ. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABACDEDCBFEFGEHGEHBIIBJEJ treesA · bearB · theseA · noiseC · placeD · dayE · paceD · joysC · airB · goingF · awayE · knowingF · olderG · stayE · floorH · shoulderG · swayE · doorH · somewhereB · choiceI · voiceI · scareB · onJ · sayE · goneJ
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I wonder about the trees. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Why do we wish to bear | 6 | ······ |
| Forever the noise of these | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| More than another noise | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| So close to our dwelling place? | 7 | ···//˘· |
| We suffer them by the day | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Till we lose all measure of pace, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And fixity in our joys, | 7 | ·/˘˘·/· |
| And acquire a listening air. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| They are that that talks of going | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But never gets away; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And that talks no less for knowing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| As it grows wiser and older, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| That now it means to stay. | 6 | ······ |
| My feet tug at the floor | 6 | ······ |
| And my head sways to my shoulder | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sometimes when I watch trees sway, | 7 | ˘/····· |
| From the window or the door. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I shall set forth for somewhere, | 7 | ·····/· |
| I shall make the reckless choice | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Some day when they are in voice | 7 | ······· |
| And tossing so as to scare | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The white clouds over them on. | 7 | ······· |
| I shall have less to say, | 6 | ······ |
| But I shall be gone. | 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.