In the Valley of the Elwy
I REMEMBER a house where all were goodTo me, God knows, deserving no such thing:Comforting smell breathed at very entering,Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood.That cordial air made those kind people a hoodAll over, as a bevy of eggs the mothering wingWill, or mild nights the new morsels of spring:Why, it seemed of course; seemed of right it should.
Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales,All the air things wear that build this world of Wales;Only the inmate does not correspond:God, lover of souls, swaying considerate scales,Complete thy creature dear O where it fails,Being mighty a master, being a father and fond.
Words in this poem
- bevy n.
- A company; an assembly or collection of persons, especially of ladies. [Perhaps orig. a drinking company, fr. OF. bevée (cf. It. beva) a drink, beverage; then, perh., a company in general, esp. of ladies; and last applied by sportsm]
- mothering n.
- A rural custom in England, of visiting one's parents on Midlent Sunday, -- supposed to have been originally visiting the mother church to make offerings at the high altar.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Valley of the Elwy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published, Project Gutenberg ebook #22403; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Gerard Manley Hopkins, In the Valley of the Elwy, in Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22403, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hopkins-poems/in-the-valley-of-the-elwy.html, id L04386.
Form and metre
In the Valley of the Elwy is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 ABBAABBA goodA · thingB · enteringB · woodA · hoodA · wingB · springB · shouldA
- 2 AABAAB valesA · walesA · correspondB · scalesA · failsA · fondB
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 REMEMBER a house where all were good | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| To me, God knows, deserving no such thing: | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Comforting smell breathed at very entering, | 11 | /˘˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| That cordial air made those kind people a hood | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| All over, as a bevy of eggs the mothering wing | 12 | ····/˘···/˘· |
| Will, or mild nights the new morsels of spring: | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Why, it seemed of course; seemed of right it should. | 10 | ·········· |
| Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales, | 10 | /˘··/˘/··· |
| All the air things wear that build this world of Wales; | 11 | ··········· |
| Only the inmate does not correspond: | 10 | /˘·/····˘/ |
| God, lover of souls, swaying considerate scales, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘· |
| Complete thy creature dear O where it fails, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Being mighty a master, being a father and fond. | 12 | //˘·/˘/·/˘·· |
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.