Normandy
When all the land’s alive againWith winter far away,And heaven over France againIs fairer than to-day,When spring puts off her gray for green,And swallows all return--Then I’ll go back to Normandy,The land where I was born.
I know the fields of Switzerland,The peaks and icy meres;I know the skies of Italy,I know the gondoliers;But let me wander where I will,I say that I’ll returnTo Normandy, my Normandy,The land where I was born.
At last there comes a time to usWhen all dreams lose their glow;There comes a time when in our soulsWe need the long ago;So when my songs are cold in me,And love will not return--Then I’ll go back to Normandy,The land where I was born.
About this text
Normandy is in the public domain. This text is taken from The town down the river, Project Gutenberg ebook #76699; 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, Normandy, in The Town Down the River (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #76699, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/robinson-town-down-river/normandy.html, id L17197.
Form and metre
Normandy is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABAB---- againA · awayB · againA · dayB · green · return · normandy · born
- 2 -A-A---- switzerland · meresA · italy · gondoliersA · will · return · normandy · born
- 3 -A-A---- us · glowA · souls · agoA · me · return · normandy · born
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When all the land’s alive again | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| With winter far away, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And heaven over France again | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Is fairer than to-day, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When spring puts off her gray for green, | 8 | ········ |
| And swallows all return-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Then I’ll go back to Normandy, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The land where I was born. | 6 | ······ |
| I know the fields of Switzerland, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The peaks and icy meres; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I know the skies of Italy, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I know the gondoliers; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But let me wander where I will, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I say that I’ll return | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To Normandy, my Normandy, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| The land where I was born. | 6 | ······ |
| At last there comes a time to us | 8 | ········ |
| When all dreams lose their glow; | 6 | ······ |
| There comes a time when in our souls | 8 | ······/· |
| We need the long ago; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So when my songs are cold in me, | 8 | ········ |
| And love will not return-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Then I’ll go back to Normandy, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The land where I was born. | 6 | ······ |
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.