Laurel · Edwin Arlington Robinson · The Children of the Night

John Evereldown

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935) · 1897

iambic pentameter · ABABAAAB · 32 lines · from The Children of the Night

"Where are you going to-night, to-night, --Where are you going, John Evereldown?There's never the sign of a star in sight,Nor a lamp that's nearer than Tilbury Town.Why do you stare as a dead man might?Where are you pointing away from the light?And where are you going to-night, to-night, --Where are you going, John Evereldown?"

"Right through the forest, where none can see,There's where I'm going, to Tilbury Town.The men are asleep, -- or awake, may be, --But the women are calling John Evereldown.Ever and ever they call for me,And while they call can a man be free?So right through the forest, where none can see,There's where I'm going, to Tilbury Town."

"But why are you going so late, so late, --Why are you going, John Evereldown?Though the road be smooth and the path be straight,There are two long leagues to Tilbury Town.Come in by the fire, old man, and wait!Why do you chatter out there by the gate?And why are you going so late, so late, --Why are you going, John Evereldown?"

"I follow the women wherever they call, --That's why I'm going to Tilbury Town.God knows if I pray to be done with it all,But God is no friend to John Evereldown.So the clouds may come and the rain may fall,The shadows may creep and the dead men crawl, --But I follow the women wherever they call,And that's why I'm going to Tilbury Town."

Words in this poem

tilbury n.: A kind of gig or two-wheeled carriage, without a top or cover. [Probably from Tilburyfort, in the Country of Essex, in England.]
wherever adv.: At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
crawl v. i.: To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

John Evereldown is in the public domain. This text is taken from Children of the Night, Project Gutenberg ebook #313; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Edwin Arlington Robinson, John Evereldown, in The Children of the Night (1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #313, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/robinson-children-of-night/john-evereldown.html, id L07984.

Form and metre

John Evereldown is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABAAAB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables.

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 ABABAAAB night^A · evereldown^B · sight^A · town^B · might^A · light^A · night^A · evereldown^B
2 ABABAAAB see^A · town^B · be^A · evereldown^B · me^A · free^A · see^A · town^B
3 ABABAAAB late^A · evereldown^B · straight^A · town^B · wait^A · gate^A · late^A · evereldown^B
4 ABABAAAB call^A · town^B · all^A · evereldown^B · fall^A · crawl^A · call^A · town^B

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
"Where are you going to-night, to-night, --	9	···/˘····
Where are you going, John Evereldown?	10	···/˘·····
There's never the sign of a star in sight,	10	·/˘·······
Nor a lamp that's nearer than Tilbury Town.	11	····/˘·/·˘·
Why do you stare as a dead man might?	9	·········
Where are you pointing away from the light?	10	···/˘˘/···
And where are you going to-night, to-night, --	10	····/˘····
Where are you going, John Evereldown?"	10	···/˘·····
"Right through the forest, where none can see,	9	···/˘····
There's where I'm going, to Tilbury Town.	10	···/˘·/·˘·
The men are asleep, -- or awake, may be, --	10	···˘/·˘/··
But the women are calling John Evereldown.	12	··/˘·/˘·····
Ever and ever they call for me,	9	/˘·/˘····
And while they call can a man be free?	9	·········
So right through the forest, where none can see,	10	····/˘····
There's where I'm going, to Tilbury Town."	10	···/˘·/·˘·
"But why are you going so late, so late, --	10	····/˘····
Why are you going, John Evereldown?	10	···/˘·····
Though the road be smooth and the path be straight,	10	··········
There are two long leagues to Tilbury Town.	10	······/·˘·
Come in by the fire, old man, and wait!	10	····/˘····
Why do you chatter out there by the gate?	10	···/˘·····
And why are you going so late, so late, --	10	····/˘····
Why are you going, John Evereldown?"	10	···/˘·····
"I follow the women wherever they call, --	11	·/˘·/˘˘/˘··
That's why I'm going to Tilbury Town.	10	···/˘·/·˘·
God knows if I pray to be done with it all,	11	···········
But God is no friend to John Evereldown.	11	···········
So the clouds may come and the rain may fall,	10	··········
The shadows may creep and the dead men crawl, --	10	·/········
But I follow the women wherever they call,	12	··/˘·/˘˘/˘··
And that's why I'm going to Tilbury Town."	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.

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