To W. R
THICK is the darkness—Sunward, O, sunward!Rough is the highway—Onward, still onward!
Dawn harbours surelyEast of the shadows.Facing us somewhereSpread the sweet meadows.
Upward and forward!Time will restore us:Light is above us,Rest is before us.
Words in this poem
- sunward adv.
- Toward the sun.
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To W. R 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, To W. R, in Poems (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1568, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/henley-poems/to-w-r-2.html, id L12394.
Form and metre
To W. R is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is dactylic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.0 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in dactylic dimeter.
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.
- 2 -A-A surely · shadowsA · somewhere · meadowsA
- 3 -AAA forward · usA · usA · usA
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 dactylic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THICK is the darkness— | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Sunward, O, sunward! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Rough is the highway— | 5 | ···/· |
| Onward, still onward! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Dawn harbours surely | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| East of the shadows. | 5 | ···/· |
| Facing us somewhere | 5 | /˘·/· |
| Spread the sweet meadows. | 5 | ···/· |
| Upward and forward! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Time will restore us: | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Light is above us, | 5 | ····· |
| Rest is before us. | 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.