Eventide
The day is past and the toilers cease;The land grows dim 'mid the shadows grey,And hearts are glad, for the dark brings peaceAt the close of day.
Each weary toiler, with lingering pace,As he homeward turns, with the long day done,Looks out to the west, with the light on his faceOf the setting sun.
Yet some see not (with their sin-dimmed eyes)The promise of rest in the fading light;But the clouds loom dark in the angry skiesAt the fall of night.
And some see only a golden skyWhere the elms their welcoming arms stretch wideTo the calling rooks, as they homeward flyAt the eventide.
It speaks of peace that comes after strife,Of the rest He sends to the hearts He tried,Of the calm that follows the stormiest life --God's eventide.
But yesterday the tourney, all the eager joy of life,The waving of the banners, and the rattle of the spears,The clash of sword and harness, and the madness of the strife;To-night begin the silence and the peace of endless years.
But yesterday the glory and the prize,And best of all, to lay it at her feet,To find my guerdon in her speaking eyes:I grudge them not, -- they pass, albeit sweet.
The ring of spears, the winning of the fight,The careless song, the cup, the love of friends,The earth in spring -- to live, to feel the light --'Twas good the while it lasted: here it ends.
Remain the well-wrought deed in honour done,The dole for Christ's dear sake, the words that fallIn kindliness upon some outcast one, --They seemed so little: now they are my All.
Words in this poem
- toiler n.
- One who toils, or labors painfully.
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- eventide n.
- The time of evening; evening. [AS. æfentid. See Tide.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- tourney v. i.
- To perform in tournaments; to tilt. [Cf.OF. torneier. See Tourney, n.]
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- kindliness n.
- Natural inclination; natural course.
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Eventide is in the public domain. This text is taken from In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #353; 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 McCrae, Eventide, in In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mccrae-flanders/eventide.html, id L17054.
Form and metre
Eventide is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABAB ceaseA · greyB · peaceA · dayB
- 2 ABAB paceA · doneB · faceA · sunB
- 3 ABAB eyesA · lightB · skiesA · nightB
- 4 ABAB skyA · wideB · flyA · eventideB
- 5 ABAB strifeA · triedB · lifeA · eventideB
- 6 ABAB lifeA · spearsB · strifeA · yearsB
- 7 ABAB prizeA · feetB · eyesA · sweetB
- 8 ABAB fightA · friendsB · lightA · endsB
- 9 ABAB doneA · fallB · oneA · allB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The day is past and the toilers cease; | 9 | ········· |
| The land grows dim 'mid the shadows grey, | 9 | ······/·· |
| And hearts are glad, for the dark brings peace | 9 | ········· |
| At the close of day. | 5 | ····· |
| Each weary toiler, with lingering pace, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| As he homeward turns, with the long day done, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Looks out to the west, with the light on his face | 11 | ··········· |
| Of the setting sun. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Yet some see not (with their sin-dimmed eyes) | 10 | ········˘· |
| The promise of rest in the fading light; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| But the clouds loom dark in the angry skies | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| At the fall of night. | 5 | ····· |
| And some see only a golden sky | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Where the elms their welcoming arms stretch wide | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| To the calling rooks, as they homeward fly | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| At the eventide. | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| It speaks of peace that comes after strife, | 9 | ········· |
| Of the rest He sends to the hearts He tried, | 10 | ·········· |
| Of the calm that follows the stormiest life -- | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| God's eventide. | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| But yesterday the tourney, all the eager joy of life, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| The waving of the banners, and the rattle of the spears, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| The clash of sword and harness, and the madness of the strife; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| To-night begin the silence and the peace of endless years. | 14 | ··˘/·/˘····/˘· |
| But yesterday the glory and the prize, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And best of all, to lay it at her feet, | 10 | ·········· |
| To find my guerdon in her speaking eyes: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I grudge them not, -- they pass, albeit sweet. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The ring of spears, the winning of the fight, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The careless song, the cup, the love of friends, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The earth in spring -- to live, to feel the light -- | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Twas good the while it lasted: here it ends. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Remain the well-wrought deed in honour done, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| The dole for Christ's dear sake, the words that fall | 10 | ·········· |
| In kindliness upon some outcast one, -- | 10 | ·/˘˘···/·· |
| They seemed so little: now they are my All. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.