Eel-Grass
No matter what I say,All that I really loveIs the rain that flattens on the bay,And the eel-grass in the cove;The jingle-shells that lie and bleachAt the tide-line, and the traceOf higher tides along the beach:Nothing in this place.
There will be rose and rhododendronWhen you are dead and under ground;Still will be heard from white syringasHeavy with bees, a sunny sound;
Still will the tamaracks be rainingAfter the rain has ceased, and stillWill there be robins in the stubble,Brown sheep upon the warm green hill.
Spring will not ail nor autumn falter;Nothing will know that you are gone,Saving alone some sullen plough-landNone but yourself sets foot upon;
Saving the may-weed and the pig-weedNothing will know that you are dead,--These, and perhaps a useless wagonStanding beside some tumbled shed.
Oh, there will pass with your great passingLittle of beauty not your own,--Only the light from common water,Only the grace from simple stone!
Words in this poem
- cove v. t.
- To brood, cover, over, or sit over, as birds their eggs. [CF. F. couver, It. covare. See Covey.]
- rhododendron n.
- A genus of shrubs or small trees, often having handsome evergreen leaves, and remarkable for the beauty of their flowers; rosebay. [L., fr. Gr. "rodo`dendron, literally, rose tree; "ro`don rose + de`ndron tree. See Rose.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Eel-Grass is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59167; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Eel-Grass, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/millay-poems/eel-grass.html, id L24362.
Form and metre
Eel-Grass is 28 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 A-A-BCBC sayA · love · bayA · cove · bleachB · traceC · beachB · placeC
- 2 -A-A rhododendron · groundA · syringas · soundA
- 3 -AAA raining · stillA · stubbleA · hillA
- 5 -A-A weed · deadA · wagon · shedA
- 6 -A-A passing · ownA · water · stoneA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No matter what I say, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| All that I really love | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is the rain that flattens on the bay, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And the eel-grass in the cove; | 7 | ······· |
| The jingle-shells that lie and bleach | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At the tide-line, and the trace | 7 | ······· |
| Of higher tides along the beach: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Nothing in this place. | 5 | /˘··· |
| There will be rose and rhododendron | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| When you are dead and under ground; | 8 | ········ |
| Still will be heard from white syringas | 9 | ········· |
| Heavy with bees, a sunny sound; | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Still will the tamaracks be raining | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| After the rain has ceased, and still | 8 | ········ |
| Will there be robins in the stubble, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Brown sheep upon the warm green hill. | 8 | ········ |
| Spring will not ail nor autumn falter; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Nothing will know that you are gone, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Saving alone some sullen plough-land | 9 | /˘˘/·/˘·· |
| None but yourself sets foot upon; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Saving the may-weed and the pig-weed | 9 | /˘······· |
| Nothing will know that you are dead,-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| These, and perhaps a useless wagon | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Standing beside some tumbled shed. | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Oh, there will pass with your great passing | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Little of beauty not your own,-- | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Only the light from common water, | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Only the grace from simple stone! | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
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