The West Wind
It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries;I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills,And April's in the west wind, and daffodils.
It's a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine,Apple orchards blossom there, and the air's like wine.There is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest,And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from the nest.
"Will you not come home, brother? You have been long away.It's April, and blossom time, and white is the spray:And bright is the sun, brother, and warm is the rain,Will you not come home, brother, home to us again?
The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run;It's blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun.It's song to a man's soul, brother, fire to a man's brain,To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again.
Larks are singing in the west, brother, above the green wheat,So will you not come home, brother, and rest your tired feet?I've a balm for bruised hearts, brother, sleep for aching eyes,"Says the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries.
It's the white road westwards is the road I must treadTo the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head,To the violets and the brown brooks and the thrushes' songIn the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong.
Words in this poem
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- westwards adv.
- Toward the west; as, to ride or sail westward. [AS. westweard. See West, and - ward.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The West Wind is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Story of a Round-House, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #40717; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Masefield, The West Wind, in The Story of a Round-House, and Other Poems (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #40717, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masefield-round-house/the-west-wind.html, id L25015.
Form and metre
The West Wind is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 AABB criesA · eyesA · hillsB · daffodilsB
- 2 AABB mineA · wineA · restB · nestB
- 3 AABB awayA · sprayA · rainB · againB
- 4 AABB runA · sunA · brainB · againB
- 5 AABB wheatA · feetA · eyesB · criesB
- 6 AABB treadA · headA · songB · belongB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries; | 11 | ··········· |
| I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes. | 12 | ·/·········· |
| For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills, | 11 | ··········· |
| And April's in the west wind, and daffodils. | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| It's a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine, | 13 | ··········/·· |
| Apple orchards blossom there, and the air's like wine. | 12 | /˘/˘/˘······ |
| There is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest, | 12 | ············ |
| And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from the nest. | 13 | ··/˘····/˘··· |
| "Will you not come home, brother? You have been long away. | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
| It's April, and blossom time, and white is the spray: | 12 | ·/˘·/˘······ |
| And bright is the sun, brother, and warm is the rain, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Will you not come home, brother, home to us again? | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run; | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| It's blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun. | 11 | ··········· |
| It's song to a man's soul, brother, fire to a man's brain, | 13 | ······/˘/···· |
| To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again. | 13 | ········/˘·˘/ |
| Larks are singing in the west, brother, above the green wheat, | 14 | ··/˘···/˘····· |
| So will you not come home, brother, and rest your tired feet? | 13 | ······/˘···/· |
| I've a balm for bruised hearts, brother, sleep for aching eyes," | 13 | ······/˘··/˘· |
| Says the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries. | 11 | ··········· |
| It's the white road westwards is the road I must tread | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| To the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head, | 13 | ············· |
| To the violets and the brown brooks and the thrushes' song | 13 | ··/˘······/˘· |
| In the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong. | 13 | ···········˘/ |
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.