The Farm-House in the Odenwald
I have marked it well,--it must be true,--Death never takes one alone, but two!Whenever he enters in at a door,Under roof of gold or roof of thatch,He always leaves it upon the latch,And comes again ere the year is o'er.Never one of a household only!Perhaps it is a mercy of God,Lest the dead there under the sod,In the land of strangers, should be lonely!Ah me! I think I am lonelier here!It is hard to go,--but harder to stay!Were it not for the children, I should prayThat Death would take me within the year!And Gottlieb!--he is at work all day,In the sunny field, or the forest murk,But I know that his thoughts are far away,I know that his heart is not in his work!And when he comes home to me at nightHe is not cheery, but sits and sighs,And I see the great tears in his eyes,And try to be cheerful for his sake.Only the children's hearts are light.Mine is weary, and ready to break.God help us! I hope we have done right;We thought we were acting for the best!
Who is it coming under the trees?A man, in the Prince's livery dressed!He looks about him with doubtful face,As if uncertain of the place.He stops at the beehives;--now he seesThe garden gate;--he is going past!Can he be afraid of the bees?No; he is coming in at last!He fills my heart with strange alarm!
Words in this poem
- latch v. t.
- To smear; to anoint. [Cf. F. lécher to lick (of German origin). Cf. Lick.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- murk n.
- Darkness; mirk.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Farm-House in the Odenwald 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, The Farm-House in the Odenwald, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-farm-house-in-the-odenwald.html, id L17946.
Form and metre
The Farm-House in the Odenwald is 35 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 AA-BB-CDDCEFFEFGFGHIIJHJH- trueA · twoA · door · thatchB · latchB · o'er · onlyC · godD · sodD · lonelyC · hereE · stayF · prayF · yearE · dayF · murkG · awayF · workG · nightH · sighsI · eyesI · sakeJ · lightH · breakJ · rightH · best
- 2 A-BBACAC- treesA · dressed · faceB · placeB · seesA · pastC · beesA · lastC · alarm
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I have marked it well,--it must be true,-- | 10 | ···˘······ |
| Death never takes one alone, but two! | 9 | ·/˘··˘/·· |
| Whenever he enters in at a door, | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘···· |
| Under roof of gold or roof of thatch, | 9 | ········· |
| He always leaves it upon the latch, | 9 | ·/······· |
| And comes again ere the year is o'er. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| Never one of a household only! | 9 | /˘···/·/˘ |
| Perhaps it is a mercy of God, | 9 | ˘/···/˘·· |
| Lest the dead there under the sod, | 8 | ········ |
| In the land of strangers, should be lonely! | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| Ah me! I think I am lonelier here! | 10 | ·········· |
| It is hard to go,--but harder to stay! | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Were it not for the children, I should pray | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That Death would take me within the year! | 9 | ········· |
| And Gottlieb!--he is at work all day, | 9 | ·/······· |
| In the sunny field, or the forest murk, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| But I know that his thoughts are far away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I know that his heart is not in his work! | 10 | ·········· |
| And when he comes home to me at night | 9 | ········· |
| He is not cheery, but sits and sighs, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And I see the great tears in his eyes, | 9 | ········· |
| And try to be cheerful for his sake. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Only the children's hearts are light. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Mine is weary, and ready to break. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| God help us! I hope we have done right; | 9 | ········· |
| We thought we were acting for the best! | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Who is it coming under the trees? | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A man, in the Prince's livery dressed! | 10 | ····/˘/˘˘· |
| He looks about him with doubtful face, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| As if uncertain of the place. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| He stops at the beehives;--now he sees | 9 | ····/···· |
| The garden gate;--he is going past! | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Can he be afraid of the bees? | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| No; he is coming in at last! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He fills my heart with strange alarm! | 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.