Tavern
I'll keep a little tavernBelow the high hill's crest,Wherein all grey-eyed peopleMay set them down and rest.
There shall be plates a-plenty,And mugs to melt the chillOf all the grey-eyed peopleWho happen up the hill.
There sound will sleep the traveller,And dream his journey's end,But I will rouse at midnightThe falling fire to tend.
Aye, 'tis a curious fancy--But all the good I knowWas taught me out of two grey eyesA long time ago.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tavern is in the public domain. This text is taken from Renascence, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #109; 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, Tavern, in Renascence and Other Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #109, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/millay-renascence/tavern.html, id L07727.
Form and metre
Tavern is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 6 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 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 tavern · crestA · people · restA
- 2 -AAA plenty · chillA · peopleA · hillA
- 3 -A-A traveller · endA · midnight · tendA
- 4 -A-A fancy · knowA · eyes · agoA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I'll keep a little tavern | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Below the high hill's crest, | 6 | ······ |
| Wherein all grey-eyed people | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| May set them down and rest. | 6 | ······ |
| There shall be plates a-plenty, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And mugs to melt the chill | 6 | ······ |
| Of all the grey-eyed people | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Who happen up the hill. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There sound will sleep the traveller, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And dream his journey's end, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But I will rouse at midnight | 7 | ·····/· |
| The falling fire to tend. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Aye, 'tis a curious fancy-- | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| But all the good I know | 6 | ······ |
| Was taught me out of two grey eyes | 8 | ········ |
| A long time ago. | 5 | ···˘/ |
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.