Finale
The hour was late; the fire burned low,The Landlord's eyes were closed in sleep,And near the story's end a deepSonorous sound at times was heard,As when the distant bagpipes blow.At this all laughed; the Landlord stirred,As one awaking from a swound,And, gazing anxiously around,Protested that he had not slept,But only shut his eyes, and keptHis ears attentive to each word.
Then all arose, and said "Good Night."Alone remained the drowsy SquireTo rake the embers of the fire,And quench the waning parlor light.While from the windows, here and there,The scattered lamps a moment gleamed,And the illumined hostel seemedThe constellation of the Bear,Downward, athwart the misty air,Sinking and setting toward the sun,Far off the village clock struck one.
Words in this poem
- anxiously adv.
- In an anxious manner; with painful uncertainty; solicitously.
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Finale is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Finale, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/finale.html, id L17676.
Form and metre
Finale is 22 lines in 2 stanzas of 11 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABBCACDDEEC lowA · sleepB · deepB · heardC · blowA · stirredC · swoundD · aroundD · sleptE · keptE · wordC
- 2 ABBACDDCCEE nightA · squireB · fireB · lightA · thereC · gleamedD · seemedD · bearC · airC · sunE · oneE
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The hour was late; the fire burned low, | 8 | ·/···/·· |
| The Landlord's eyes were closed in sleep, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And near the story's end a deep | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sonorous sound at times was heard, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| As when the distant bagpipes blow. | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| At this all laughed; the Landlord stirred, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| As one awaking from a swound, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And, gazing anxiously around, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Protested that he had not slept, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| But only shut his eyes, and kept | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His ears attentive to each word. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Then all arose, and said "Good Night." | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Alone remained the drowsy Squire | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| To rake the embers of the fire, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And quench the waning parlor light. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| While from the windows, here and there, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The scattered lamps a moment gleamed, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the illumined hostel seemed | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| The constellation of the Bear, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Downward, athwart the misty air, | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Sinking and setting toward the sun, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Far off the village clock struck one. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.