The Wind and the Moon
Said the Wind to the Moon, “I will blow you out,You stareIn the airLike a ghost in a chair,Always looking what I am about--I hate to be watched; I’ll blow you out.”
The Wind blew hard, and out went the Moon.So, deepOn a heapOf clouds to sleep,Down lay the Wind, and slumbered soon,Muttering low, “I’ve done for that Moon.”
He turned in his bed; she was there again!On highIn the sky,With her one ghost eye,The Moon shone white and alive and plain.Said the Wind, “I will blow you out again.”
The Wind blew hard, and the Moon grew dim.“With my sledge,And my wedge,I have knocked off her edge!If only I blow right fierce and grim,The creature will soon be dimmer than dim.”
He blew and he blew, and she thinned to a thread.“One puffMore’s enoughTo blow her to snuff!One good puff more where the last was bred,And glimmer, glimmer, glum will go the thread.”
He blew a great blast, and the thread was goneIn the airNowhereWas a moonbeam bare;Far off and harmless the shy stars shone--Sure and certain the Moon was gone!
The Wind he took to his revels once more;On down,In town,Like a merry-mad clown,He leaped and hallooed with whistle and roar--“What’s that?” The glimmering thread once more!
He flew in a rage--he danced and blew;But in vainWas the painOf his bursting brain;For still the broader the Moon-scrap grew,The broader he swelled his big cheeks and blew.
Slowly she grew--till she filled the night,And shoneOn her throneIn the sky alone,A matchless, wonderful silvery light,Radiant and lovely, the queen of the night.
Said the Wind: “What a marvel of power am IWith my breath,Good faith!I blew her to death--First blew her away right out of the sky--Then blew her in; what strength have I!”
But the Moon she knew nothing about the affair;For highIn the sky,With her one white eye,Motionless, miles above the air,She had never heard the great Wind blare.
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- glum n.
- Sullenness. Skelton. [See Gloom.]
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- blare v. i.
- To sound loudly and somewhat harshly. [OE. blaren, bloren, to cry, woop; cf. G. plärren to bleat, D. blaren to bleat, cry, weep. Prob. an imitative word, but cf. also E. blast. Cf. Blore.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wind and the Moon is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, The Wind and the Moon, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-wind-and-the-moon.html, id L25225.
Form and metre
The Wind and the Moon is 66 lines in 11 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBBAA. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABBBAA outA · stareB · airB · chairB · aboutA · outA
- 2 ABBBAA moonA · deepB · heapB · sleepB · soonA · moonA
- 3 ABBBAA againA · highB · skyB · eyeB · plainA · againA
- 4 ABBBAA dimA · sledgeB · wedgeB · edgeB · grimA · dimA
- 5 ABBBAA threadA · puffB · enoughB · snuffB · bredA · threadA
- 6 ABBBAA goneA · airB · nowhereB · bareB · shoneA · goneA
- 7 ABBBAA moreA · downB · townB · clownB · roarA · moreA
- 8 ABBBAA blewA · vainB · painB · brainB · grewA · blewA
- 9 ABBBAA nightA · shoneB · throneB · aloneB · lightA · nightA
- 10 ABBBAA iA · breathB · faithB · deathB · skyA · iA
- 11 ABBBAA affairA · highB · skyB · eyeB · airA · blareA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Said the Wind to the Moon, “I will blow you out, | 11 | ··········· |
| You stare | 2 | ·· |
| In the air | 3 | ··· |
| Like a ghost in a chair, | 6 | ······ |
| Always looking what I am about-- | 9 | /·/˘····· |
| I hate to be watched; I’ll blow you out.” | 9 | ········· |
| The Wind blew hard, and out went the Moon. | 9 | ········· |
| So, deep | 2 | ·· |
| On a heap | 3 | ··· |
| Of clouds to sleep, | 4 | ···· |
| Down lay the Wind, and slumbered soon, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Muttering low, “I’ve done for that Moon.” | 8 | /˘······ |
| He turned in his bed; she was there again! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| On high | 2 | ·· |
| In the sky, | 3 | ··· |
| With her one ghost eye, | 5 | ····· |
| The Moon shone white and alive and plain. | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Said the Wind, “I will blow you out again.” | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The Wind blew hard, and the Moon grew dim. | 9 | ········· |
| “With my sledge, | 3 | ··· |
| And my wedge, | 3 | ··· |
| I have knocked off her edge! | 7 | ···˘··· |
| If only I blow right fierce and grim, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The creature will soon be dimmer than dim.” | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| He blew and he blew, and she thinned to a thread. | 11 | ··········· |
| “One puff | 2 | ·· |
| More’s enough | 4 | /·˘/ |
| To blow her to snuff! | 5 | ····· |
| One good puff more where the last was bred, | 9 | ········· |
| And glimmer, glimmer, glum will go the thread.” | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| He blew a great blast, and the thread was gone | 10 | ·········· |
| In the air | 3 | ··· |
| Nowhere | 2 | /· |
| Was a moonbeam bare; | 5 | ··/·· |
| Far off and harmless the shy stars shone-- | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Sure and certain the Moon was gone! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| The Wind he took to his revels once more; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| On down, | 2 | ·· |
| In town, | 2 | ·· |
| Like a merry-mad clown, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| He leaped and hallooed with whistle and roar-- | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| “What’s that?” The glimmering thread once more! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He flew in a rage--he danced and blew; | 9 | ········· |
| But in vain | 3 | ··· |
| Was the pain | 3 | ··· |
| Of his bursting brain; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| For still the broader the Moon-scrap grew, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The broader he swelled his big cheeks and blew. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Slowly she grew--till she filled the night, | 9 | /˘······· |
| And shone | 2 | ·· |
| On her throne | 3 | ··· |
| In the sky alone, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| A matchless, wonderful silvery light, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Radiant and lovely, the queen of the night. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Said the Wind: “What a marvel of power am I | 11 | ·····/˘·/·· |
| With my breath, | 3 | ··· |
| Good faith! | 2 | ·· |
| I blew her to death-- | 5 | ····· |
| First blew her away right out of the sky-- | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Then blew her in; what strength have I!” | 8 | ········ |
| But the Moon she knew nothing about the affair; | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| For high | 2 | ·· |
| In the sky, | 3 | ··· |
| With her one white eye, | 5 | ····· |
| Motionless, miles above the air, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| She had never heard the great Wind blare. | 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.