On the way to Kew
ON the way to Kew,By the river old and gray,Where in the Long AgoWe laughed and loitered so,I met a ghost to-day,A ghost that told of you—A ghost of low repliesAnd sweet, inscrutable eyesComing up from RichmondAs you used to do.
By the river old and gray,The enchanted Long AgoMurmured and smiled anew.On the way to Kew,March had the laugh of May,The bare boughs looked aglow,And old, immortal wordsSang in my breast like birds,Coming up from RichmondAs I used with you.
With the life of Long AgoLived my thought of you.By the river old and grayFlowing his appointed wayAs I watched I knewWhat is so good to know—Not in vain, not in vain,Shall I look for you againComing up from RichmondOn the way to Kew.
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- aglow adv.
- In a glow; glowing; as, cheeks aglow; the landscape all aglow. [Pref. a- + glow.]
- 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
On the way to Kew is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1568; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. E. Henley, On the way to Kew, in Poems (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1568, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/henley-poems/on-the-way-to-kew.html, id L12421.
Form and metre
On the way to Kew is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABCCBADD-A kewA · grayB · agoC · soC · dayB · youA · repliesD · eyesD · richmond · doA
- 2 ABCCABDD-C grayA · agoB · anewC · kewC · mayA · aglowB · wordsD · birdsD · richmond · youC
- 3 ABCCBADD-B agoA · youB · grayC · wayC · knewB · knowA · vainD · againD · richmond · kewB
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ON the way to Kew, | 5 | ····· |
| By the river old and gray, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where in the Long Ago | 6 | ····˘/ |
| We laughed and loitered so, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I met a ghost to-day, | 6 | ······ |
| A ghost that told of you— | 6 | ······ |
| A ghost of low replies | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And sweet, inscrutable eyes | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Coming up from Richmond | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| As you used to do. | 5 | ····· |
| By the river old and gray, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The enchanted Long Ago | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Murmured and smiled anew. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| On the way to Kew, | 5 | ····· |
| March had the laugh of May, | 6 | ······ |
| The bare boughs looked aglow, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And old, immortal words | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Sang in my breast like birds, | 6 | ······ |
| Coming up from Richmond | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| As I used with you. | 5 | ····· |
| With the life of Long Ago | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Lived my thought of you. | 6 | ·˘···· |
| By the river old and gray | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Flowing his appointed way | 6 | /·˘/˘· |
| As I watched I knew | 6 | ···˘·· |
| What is so good to know— | 6 | ······ |
| Not in vain, not in vain, | 6 | ······ |
| Shall I look for you again | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Coming up from Richmond | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| On the way to Kew. | 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.