In Cloak of Grey
Love's a pilgrim, cloaked in grey,And his feet are pierced and bleeding:Have ye seen him pass this waySorrowfully pleading?Ye that weep the world away,Have ye seen King Love to-day?--
Yea, we saw him; but he camePoppy-crowned and white of limb!Song had touched his lips with flame,And his eyes were drowsed and dim;And we kissed the hours awayTill night grew rosier than the day.--
Hath he left you?--Yea, he left usA little while ago,Of his laughter quite bereft usAnd his limbs of snow;We know not why he went awayWho ruled our revels yesterday.--
Because ye did not understandLove cometh from afar,A pilgrim out of Holy LandGuided by a star:Last night he came in cloak of grey,Begging. Ye knew him not: he went his way.
Words in this poem
- rosier n.
- A rosebush; roses, collectively. [F., fr. L. rosarius of roses. Cf. Rosary.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Cloak of Grey is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, In Cloak of Grey, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/in-cloak-of-grey.html, id L21465.
Form and metre
In Cloak of Grey is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABAA greyA · bleedingB · wayA · pleadingB · awayA · dayA
- 2 ABABCC cameA · limbB · flameA · dimB · awayC · dayC
- 3 ABABCC usA · agoB · usA · snowB · awayC · yesterdayC
- 4 ABABCC understandA · afarB · landA · starB · greyC · wayC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love's a pilgrim, cloaked in grey, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And his feet are pierced and bleeding: | 9 | ·····˘·/˘ |
| Have ye seen him pass this way | 7 | ······· |
| Sorrowfully pleading? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Ye that weep the world away, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Have ye seen King Love to-day?-- | 7 | ······· |
| Yea, we saw him; but he came | 7 | ······· |
| Poppy-crowned and white of limb! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Song had touched his lips with flame, | 7 | ······· |
| And his eyes were drowsed and dim; | 7 | ······· |
| And we kissed the hours away | 9 | ···˘·/˘˘/ |
| Till night grew rosier than the day.-- | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Hath he left you?--Yea, he left us | 8 | ········ |
| A little while ago, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Of his laughter quite bereft us | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| And his limbs of snow; | 5 | ····· |
| We know not why he went away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Who ruled our revels yesterday.-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Because ye did not understand | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Love cometh from afar, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| A pilgrim out of Holy Land | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Guided by a star: | 5 | /˘··· |
| Last night he came in cloak of grey, | 8 | ········ |
| Begging. Ye knew him not: he went his way. | 10 | /˘········ |
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.