You
Only a long, low-lying laneThat follows to the misty sea,Across a bare and russet plainWhere wild winds whistle vagrantly;I know that many a fairer pathWith lure of song and bloom may woo,But oh! I love this lonely strathBecause it is so full of you.
Here we have walked in elder years,And here your truest memories wait,This spot is sacred to your tears,That to your laughter dedicate;Here, by this turn, you gave to meA gem of thought that glitters yet,This tawny slope is graciouslyBy a remembered smile beset.
Here once you lingered on an hourWhen stars were shining in the west,To gather one pale, scented flowerAnd place it smiling on your breast;And since that eve its fragrance blowsFor me across the grasses sere,Far sweeter than the latest rose,That faded bloom of yesteryear.
For me the sky, the sea, the wold,Have beckoning visions wild and fair,The mystery of a tale untold,The grace of an unuttered prayer.Let others choose the fairer pathThat winds the dimpling valley through,I gladly seek this lonely strathCompanioned by my dreams of you.
Words in this poem
- vagrantly adv.
- In a vagrant manner.
- strath n.
- A valley of considerable size, through which a river runs; a valley bottom; -- often used in composition with the name of the river; as, Strath Spey, Strathdon, Strathmore. [Gael. srath.]
- graciously adv.
- In a gracious manner; courteously; benignantly.
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- yesteryear n.
- The year last past; last year.
- 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.]
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
You 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, You, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/you.html, id L29437.
Form and metre
You is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCDCD laneA · seaB · plainA · vagrantlyB · pathC · wooD · strathC · youD
- 2 ABABCDCD yearsA · waitB · tearsA · dedicateB · meC · yetD · graciouslyC · besetD
- 3 ABABCDCD hourA · westB · flowerA · breastB · blowsC · sereD · roseC · yesteryearD
- 4 ABABCDCD woldA · fairB · untoldA · prayerB · pathC · throughD · strathC · youD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Only a long, low-lying lane | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| That follows to the misty sea, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Across a bare and russet plain | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Where wild winds whistle vagrantly; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| I know that many a fairer path | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| With lure of song and bloom may woo, | 8 | ········ |
| But oh! I love this lonely strath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Because it is so full of you. | 8 | ········ |
| Here we have walked in elder years, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And here your truest memories wait, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| This spot is sacred to your tears, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That to your laughter dedicate; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Here, by this turn, you gave to me | 8 | ········ |
| A gem of thought that glitters yet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This tawny slope is graciously | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| By a remembered smile beset. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Here once you lingered on an hour | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| When stars were shining in the west, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To gather one pale, scented flower | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And place it smiling on your breast; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And since that eve its fragrance blows | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For me across the grasses sere, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Far sweeter than the latest rose, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That faded bloom of yesteryear. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For me the sky, the sea, the wold, | 8 | ········ |
| Have beckoning visions wild and fair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The mystery of a tale untold, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The grace of an unuttered prayer. | 8 | ········ |
| Let others choose the fairer path | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That winds the dimpling valley through, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I gladly seek this lonely strath | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Companioned by my dreams of you. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
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.