To E. T
I slumbered with your poems on my breastSpread open as I dropped them half-read throughLike dove wings on a figure on a tombTo see, if in a dream they brought of you,
I might not have the chance I missed in lifeThrough some delay, and call you to your faceFirst soldier, and then poet, and then both,Who died a soldier-poet of your race.
I meant, you meant, that nothing should remainUnsaid between us, brother, and this remained--And one thing more that was not then to say:The Victory for what it lost and gained.
You went to meet the shell's embrace of fireOn Vimy Ridge; and when you fell that dayThe war seemed over more for you than me,But now for me than you--the other way.
How over, though, for even me who knewThe foe thrust back unsafe beyond the Rhine,If I was not to speak of it to youAnd see you pleased once more with words of mine?
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To E. T 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, To E. T, in New Hampshire (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #58611, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/frost-new-hampshire/to-e-t.html, id L02692.
Form and metre
To E. T is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 -A-A breast · throughA · tomb · youA
- 2 -A-A life · faceA · both · raceA
- 3 -A-A remain · remainedA · say · gainedA
- 4 -A-A fire · dayA · me · wayA
- 5 ABAB knewA · rhineB · youA · mineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I slumbered with your poems on my breast | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Spread open as I dropped them half-read through | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Like dove wings on a figure on a tomb | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To see, if in a dream they brought of you, | 10 | ·········· |
| I might not have the chance I missed in life | 10 | ·········· |
| Through some delay, and call you to your face | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| First soldier, and then poet, and then both, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Who died a soldier-poet of your race. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I meant, you meant, that nothing should remain | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Unsaid between us, brother, and this remained-- | 11 | ˘/···/˘··˘/ |
| And one thing more that was not then to say: | 10 | ·········· |
| The Victory for what it lost and gained. | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| You went to meet the shell's embrace of fire | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| On Vimy Ridge; and when you fell that day | 10 | ·········· |
| The war seemed over more for you than me, | 10 | ·········· |
| But now for me than you--the other way. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How over, though, for even me who knew | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The foe thrust back unsafe beyond the Rhine, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| If I was not to speak of it to you | 10 | ·········· |
| And see you pleased once more with words of mine? | 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.