Poem I
Said the Watcher by the WayTo the young and the unladen,To the boy and to the maiden,“God be with you both to-day.First your song came ringing,Now you come, you two,--Knowing naught of what you do,Or of what your dreams are bringing.
“Oh you children who go singingTo the Town down the River,Where the millions cringe and shiver,Tell me what you know to-day;Tell me how far you are going,Tell me how you find your way.O you children who go dreaming,Tell me what you dream to-day.”
“He is old and we have heard him,”Said the boy then to the maiden;“He is old and heavy ladenWith a load we throw away.Care may come to find us,Age may lay us low;Still, we seek the light we know,And the dead we leave behind us.
“Did he think that he would blind usInto such a small believingAs to live without achieving,When the lights have led so far?Let him watch or let him wither,--Shall he tell us where we are?We know best who go together,Downward, onward, and so far.”
Words in this poem
- watcher n.
- One who watches; one who sits up or continues; a diligent observer; specifically, one who attends upon the sick during the night.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem I 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, Poem I, in The Town Down the River (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #76699, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/robinson-town-down-river/poem-i.html, id L17180.
Form and metre
Poem I is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBACDDC wayA · unladenB · maidenB · dayA · ringingC · twoD · doD · bringingC
- 2 -AAB-B-B singing · riverA · shiverA · dayB · going · wayB · dreaming · dayB
- 3 -AA-BCCB him · maidenA · ladenA · away · usB · lowC · knowC · usB
- 4 -AAB-B-B us · believingA · achievingA · farB · wither · areB · together · farB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Said the Watcher by the Way | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To the young and the unladen, | 8 | ········ |
| To the boy and to the maiden, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| “God be with you both to-day. | 7 | ······· |
| First your song came ringing, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Now you come, you two,-- | 5 | ····· |
| Knowing naught of what you do, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Or of what your dreams are bringing. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| “Oh you children who go singing | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| To the Town down the River, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Where the millions cringe and shiver, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Tell me what you know to-day; | 7 | ······· |
| Tell me how far you are going, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Tell me how you find your way. | 7 | ······· |
| O you children who go dreaming, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Tell me what you dream to-day.” | 7 | ······· |
| “He is old and we have heard him,” | 8 | ········ |
| Said the boy then to the maiden; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| “He is old and heavy laden | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| With a load we throw away. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Care may come to find us, | 6 | ······ |
| Age may lay us low; | 5 | ····· |
| Still, we seek the light we know, | 7 | ······· |
| And the dead we leave behind us. | 8 | ········ |
| “Did he think that he would blind us | 8 | ········ |
| Into such a small believing | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| As to live without achieving, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| When the lights have led so far? | 7 | ······· |
| Let him watch or let him wither,-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Shall he tell us where we are? | 7 | ······· |
| We know best who go together, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Downward, onward, and so far.” | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
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.