The Onset
Always the same, when on a fated nightAt last the gathered snow lets down as whiteAs may be in dark woods, and with a songIt shall not make again all winter longOf hissing on the yet uncovered ground,I almost stumble looking up and round,As one who overtaken by the endGives up his errand, and lets death descendUpon him where he is, with nothing doneTo evil, no important triumph won,More than if life had never been begun.
Yet all the precedent is on my side:I know that winter death has never triedThe earth but it has failed: the snow may heapIn long storms an undrifted four feet deepAs measured against maple, birch and oak,It cannot check the peeper's silver croak;And I shall see the snow all go down hillIn water of a slender April rillThat flashes tail through last year's withered brakeAnd dead weeds, like a disappearing snake.Nothing will be left white but here a birch,And there a clump of houses with a church.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- croak v. i.
- To make a low, hoarse noise in the throat, as a frog, a raven, or a crow; hence, to make any hoarse, dismal sound. [From the primitive of AS. cracettan to croak as a raven; akin to G. kr to croak, and to E. creak, crake.]
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Onset is in the public domain. This text is taken from New Hampshire, A Poem; with Notes and Grace Notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #58611; 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 Onset, in New Hampshire (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #58611, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-new-hampshire/the-onset.html, id L02699.
Form and metre
The Onset is 23 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 56% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEE nightA · whiteA · songB · longB · groundC · roundC · endD · descendD · doneE · wonE · begunE
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF sideA · triedA · heapB · deepB · oakC · croakC · hillD · rillD · brakeE · snakeE · birchF · churchF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Always the same, when on a fated night | 10 | /······/˘· |
| At last the gathered snow lets down as white | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As may be in dark woods, and with a song | 10 | ·········· |
| It shall not make again all winter long | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Of hissing on the yet uncovered ground, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| I almost stumble looking up and round, | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| As one who overtaken by the end | 10 | ···/˘·˘··· |
| Gives up his errand, and lets death descend | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Upon him where he is, with nothing done | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To evil, no important triumph won, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| More than if life had never been begun. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Yet all the precedent is on my side: | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| I know that winter death has never tried | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The earth but it has failed: the snow may heap | 10 | ·········· |
| In long storms an undrifted four feet deep | 10 | ·········· |
| As measured against maple, birch and oak, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| It cannot check the peeper's silver croak; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And I shall see the snow all go down hill | 10 | ·········· |
| In water of a slender April rill | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| That flashes tail through last year's withered brake | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And dead weeds, like a disappearing snake. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Nothing will be left white but here a birch, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And there a clump of houses with a church. | 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.