Charles Webster
The pine woods on the hill,And the farmhouse miles away,Showed clear as though behind a lensUnder a sky of peacock blue!But a blanket of cloud by afternoonMuffled the earth. And you walked the roadAnd the clover field, where the only soundWas the cricket’s liquid tremolo.Then the sun went down between great driftsOf distant storms. For a rising windSwept clean the sky and blew the flamesOf the unprotected stars;And swayed the russet moon,Hanging between the rim of the hillAnd the twinkling boughs of the apple orchard.You walked the shore in thoughtWhere the throats of the waves were like whip-poor-willsSinging beneath the water and cryingTo the wash of the wind in the cedar trees,Till you stood, too full for tears, by the cot,And looking up saw Jupiter,Tipping the spire of the giant pine,And looking down saw my vacant chair,Rocked by the wind on the lonely porch—Be brave, Beloved!
Words in this poem
- farmhouse n.
- A dwelling house on a farm; a farmer's residence.
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- tipping n.
- A distinct articulation given in playing quick notes on the flute, by striking the tongue against the roof of the mouth; double- tonguing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Charles Webster is in the public domain. This text is taken from Spoon River Anthology, Project Gutenberg ebook #1280; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Lee Masters, Charles Webster, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/charles-webster.html, id L07909.
Form and metre
Charles Webster is 25 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%). 89% 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. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 A---B-------BA----------- hillA · away · lens · blue · afternoonB · road · sound · tremolo · drifts · wind · flames · stars · moonB · hillA · orchard · thought · wills · crying · trees · cot · jupiter · pine · chair · porch · beloved
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The pine woods on the hill, | 6 | ······ |
| And the farmhouse miles away, | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| Showed clear as though behind a lens | 8 | ········ |
| Under a sky of peacock blue! | 8 | ·····/·· |
| But a blanket of cloud by afternoon | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| Muffled the earth. And you walked the road | 9 | /˘······· |
| And the clover field, where the only sound | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Was the cricket’s liquid tremolo. | 9 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Then the sun went down between great drifts | 9 | ········· |
| Of distant storms. For a rising wind | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Swept clean the sky and blew the flames | 8 | ········ |
| Of the unprotected stars; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And swayed the russet moon, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Hanging between the rim of the hill | 9 | /˘······· |
| And the twinkling boughs of the apple orchard. | 12 | ··/˘˘···/˘/˘ |
| You walked the shore in thought | 6 | ······ |
| Where the throats of the waves were like whip-poor-wills | 11 | ··········· |
| Singing beneath the water and crying | 10 | /˘···/˘·/˘ |
| To the wash of the wind in the cedar trees, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Till you stood, too full for tears, by the cot, | 10 | ·········· |
| And looking up saw Jupiter, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Tipping the spire of the giant pine, | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| And looking down saw my vacant chair, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Rocked by the wind on the lonely porch— | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Be brave, Beloved! | 4 | ··˘/ |
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.