Twilight
The twilight is sad and cloudy,The wind blows wild and free,And like the wings of sea-birdsFlash the white caps of the sea.
But in the fisherman's cottageThere shines a ruddier light,And a little face at the windowPeers out into the night.
Close, close it is pressed to the window,As if those childish eyesWere looking into the darkness,To see some form arise.
And a woman's waving shadowIs passing to and fro,Now rising to the ceiling,Now bowing and bending low.
What tale do the roaring ocean,And the night-wind, bleak and wild,As they beat at the crazy casement,Tell to that little child?
And why do the roaring ocean,And the night-wind, wild and bleak,As they beat at the heart of the mother,Drive the color from her cheek?
Words in this poem
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Twilight 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, Twilight, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/twilight.html, id L17562.
Form and metre
Twilight is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 -A-A cloudy · freeA · birds · seaA
- 2 -A-A cottage · lightA · window · nightA
- 3 -A-A window · eyesA · darkness · ariseA
- 4 AA-A shadowA · froA · ceiling · lowA
- 5 -A-A ocean · wildA · casement · childA
- 6 -A-A ocean · bleakA · mother · cheekA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The twilight is sad and cloudy, | 8 | ·/····/˘ |
| The wind blows wild and free, | 6 | ······ |
| And like the wings of sea-birds | 7 | ······· |
| Flash the white caps of the sea. | 7 | ······· |
| But in the fisherman's cottage | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| There shines a ruddier light, | 6 | ······ |
| And a little face at the window | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Peers out into the night. | 6 | ······ |
| Close, close it is pressed to the window, | 10 | ·····˘··/˘ |
| As if those childish eyes | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Were looking into the darkness, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| To see some form arise. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And a woman's waving shadow | 8 | ··/˘/˘/· |
| Is passing to and fro, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Now rising to the ceiling, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Now bowing and bending low. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| What tale do the roaring ocean, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And the night-wind, bleak and wild, | 7 | ······· |
| As they beat at the crazy casement, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Tell to that little child? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And why do the roaring ocean, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And the night-wind, wild and bleak, | 7 | ······· |
| As they beat at the heart of the mother, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Drive the color from her cheek? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.