On the Hills
Through the pungent hours of the afternoon,On the autumn slopes we have lightly wanderedWhere the sunshine lay in a golden swoonAnd the lingering year all its sweetness squandered.Oh, it was blithesome to roam at willOver the crest of each westering hill,Over those dreamy, enchanted landsWhere the trees held to us their friendly hands!
Winds in the pine boughs softly crooned,Or in the grasses complained most sweetly,With all the music of earth attunedIn this dear ripe time that must pass so fleetly:Golden rod as we idled byHeld its torches of flame on high,And the asters beckoned along our wayLike fair fine ladies in silk array.
We passed by woods where the day asideKnelt like a pensive nun and tender,We looked on valleys of purple prideWhere she reigned a queen in her misty splendor;But out on the hills she was wild and free,A comrade to wander right gipsily,Luring us on over waste and woldWith the charm of a message half sung, half told,
And now, when far in the shining westShe has dropped her flowers on the sunset meadow,We turn away from our witching questTo the kindly starshine and gathering shadow;Filled to the lips of our souls are weWith the beauty given so lavishly,And hand in hand with the night we comeBack to the light and the hearth of home.
Words in this poem
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- blithesome a.
- Cheery; gay; merry.
- westering a.
- Passing to the west.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- fleetly adv.
- In a fleet manner; rapidly.
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- witching a.
- That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching.
- starshine n.
- The light of the stars.
- lavishly adv.
- In a lavish manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Hills 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, On the Hills, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/on-the-hills.html, id L29398.
Form and metre
On the Hills is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCDD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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 ABABCCDD afternoonA · wanderedB · swoonA · squanderedB · willC · hillC · landsD · handsD
- 2 ABABCCDD croonedA · sweetlyB · attunedA · fleetlyB · byC · highC · wayD · arrayD
- 3 ABABCCDD asideA · tenderB · prideA · splendorB · freeC · gipsilyC · woldD · toldD
- 4 ABABCCDD westA · meadowB · questA · shadowB · weC · lavishlyC · comeD · homeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Through the pungent hours of the afternoon, | 10 | ··/˘/···˘/ |
| On the autumn slopes we have lightly wandered | 11 | ··/˘···/˘/˘ |
| Where the sunshine lay in a golden swoon | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| And the lingering year all its sweetness squandered. | 11 | ··/˘···/˘/˘ |
| Oh, it was blithesome to roam at will | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Over the crest of each westering hill, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Over those dreamy, enchanted lands | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Where the trees held to us their friendly hands! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Winds in the pine boughs softly crooned, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or in the grasses complained most sweetly, | 10 | ···/˘˘/·/˘ |
| With all the music of earth attuned | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| In this dear ripe time that must pass so fleetly: | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Golden rod as we idled by | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Held its torches of flame on high, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And the asters beckoned along our way | 10 | ··/˘/˘˘//· |
| Like fair fine ladies in silk array. | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| We passed by woods where the day aside | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Knelt like a pensive nun and tender, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| We looked on valleys of purple pride | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Where she reigned a queen in her misty splendor; | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| But out on the hills she was wild and free, | 10 | ·········· |
| A comrade to wander right gipsily, | 10 | ·/··/˘···· |
| Luring us on over waste and wold | 8 | /˘······ |
| With the charm of a message half sung, half told, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| And now, when far in the shining west | 9 | ······/˘· |
| She has dropped her flowers on the sunset meadow, | 11 | ····/··/·/· |
| We turn away from our witching quest | 9 | ··˘/·//˘· |
| To the kindly starshine and gathering shadow; | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘/· |
| Filled to the lips of our souls are we | 9 | ·····/··· |
| With the beauty given so lavishly, | 9 | ··/˘/·/˘˘ |
| And hand in hand with the night we come | 9 | ········· |
| Back to the light and the hearth of home. | 9 | ········· |
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.