November Evening
Come, for the dusk is our own; let us fare forth together,With a quiet delight in our hearts for the ripe, still, autumn weather,Through the rustling valley and wood and over the crisping meadow,Under a high-sprung sky, winnowed of mist and shadow.
Sharp is the frosty air, and through the far hill-gaps showingLucent sunset lakes of crocus and green are glowing;'Tis the hour to walk at will in a wayward, unfettered roaming,Caring for naught save the charm, elusive and swift, of the gloaming.
Watchful and stirless the fields as if not unkindly holdingHarvested joys in their clasp, and to their broad bosoms foldingBaby hopes of a Spring, trusted to motherly keeping,Thus to be cherished and happed through the long months of their sleeping.
Silent the woods are and gray; but the firs than ever are greener,Nipped by the frost till the tang of their loosened balsam is keener;And one little wind in their boughs, eerily swaying and swinging,Very soft and low, like a wandering minstrel is singing.
Beautiful is the year, but not as the springlike maidenGarlanded with her hopes—rather the woman ladenWith wealth of joy and grief, worthily won through living,Wearing her sorrow now like a garment of praise and thanksgiving.
Gently the dark comes down over the wild, fair places,The whispering glens in the hills, the open, starry spaces;Rich with the gifts of the night, sated with questing and dreaming,We turn to the dearest of paths where the star of the homelight is gleaming.
Words in this poem
- lucent a.
- Shining; bright; resplendent. [L. lucens, p. pr. of lucere to shine, fr. lux, lucis, light.]
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
- elusive a.
- Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
- gloaming n.
- Twilight; dusk; the fall of the evening. [Scot. & North of Eng., and in poetry.] Hogg. [See Gloom.]
- stirless a.
- Without stirring; very quiet; motionless.
- unkindly a.
- Not kindly; unkind; ungracious.
- happed p. a.
- Wrapped; covered; cloaked. [From 1st Hap.]
- keener n.
- A professional mourner who wails at a funeral. [Ireland]
- eerily adv.
- In a strange, unearthly way.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- worthily adv.
- In a worthy manner; excellently; deservedly; according to merit; justly; suitably; becomingly.
- thanksgiving n.
- The act of rending thanks, or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
November Evening is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, November Evening, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/november-evening.html, id L29400.
Form and metre
November Evening is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 AABB togetherA · weatherA · meadowB · shadowB
- 2 AABB showingA · glowingA · roamingB · gloamingB
- 3 AABB holdingA · foldingA · keepingB · sleepingB
- 4 AABB greenerA · keenerA · swingingB · singingB
- 5 AABB maidenA · ladenA · livingB · thanksgivingB
- 6 AABB placesA · spacesA · dreamingB · gleamingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come, for the dusk is our own; let us fare forth together, | 14 | ·····/·····˘/˘ |
| With a quiet delight in our hearts for the ripe, still, autumn weather, | 16 | ··/˘/·/·····/˘/˘ |
| Through the rustling valley and wood and over the crisping meadow, | 15 | ··/˘/˘·····/˘/· |
| Under a high-sprung sky, winnowed of mist and shadow. | 13 | ······/····/· |
| Sharp is the frosty air, and through the far hill-gaps showing | 14 | ···/˘·······/˘ |
| Lucent sunset lakes of crocus and green are glowing; | 13 | /˘/···/˘···/˘ |
| 'Tis the hour to walk at will in a wayward, unfettered roaming, | 16 | ··/······/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Caring for naught save the charm, elusive and swift, of the gloaming. | 16 | /˘·····˘/˘····/˘ |
| Watchful and stirless the fields as if not unkindly holding | 15 | /˘·/˘·····˘/˘/˘ |
| Harvested joys in their clasp, and to their broad bosoms folding | 14 | /˘········/˘/˘ |
| Baby hopes of a Spring, trusted to motherly keeping, | 13 | /˘····/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Thus to be cherished and happed through the long months of their sleeping. | 15 | ···/˘········/˘ |
| Silent the woods are and gray; but the firs than ever are greener, | 15 | /˘·········/·/˘ |
| Nipped by the frost till the tang of their loosened balsam is keener; | 16 | ·········/˘/˘·/˘ |
| And one little wind in their boughs, eerily swaying and swinging, | 15 | ··/˘····/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Very soft and low, like a wandering minstrel is singing. | 14 | /˘·····/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Beautiful is the year, but not as the springlike maiden | 13 | /˘·········/˘ |
| Garlanded with her hopes—rather the woman laden | 12 | /˘···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| With wealth of joy and grief, worthily won through living, | 13 | ······/˘˘··/˘ |
| Wearing her sorrow now like a garment of praise and thanksgiving. | 16 | /˘·/˘···/˘····/˘ |
| Gently the dark comes down over the wild, fair places, | 12 | /˘········/˘ |
| The whispering glens in the hills, the open, starry spaces; | 14 | ·/˘·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Rich with the gifts of the night, sated with questing and dreaming, | 15 | ·······/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| We turn to the dearest of paths where the star of the homelight is gleaming. | 19 | ····/˘···········/˘ |
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.