The Roof II
It stands so lonely in the skyThe sparrows never come thereby,The glossy starlings seldom stopTo preen and chatter on the top.
For a whole week sometimes up thereNo wing-wave stirs the quiet air,The roof lies silent and sereneAs though no life had ever been;
Till some bright afternoon, athwartThe edge two sudden shadows dart,And two white pigeons with pink feetFlutter above and pitch on it.
Jerking their necks out as they walkThey talk awhile their pigeon-talk,A low continuous murmur blentOf mock reproaches and content.
Then cease, and sit there warm and whiteAn hour, till in the fading lightThey wake, and know the close of day,Flutter above, and fly away,
Leaving the roof whereon they satAs 'twas before, a peaceful flatExpanse, as silent and sereneAs though no life had ever been.
Words in this poem
- preen n.
- A forked tool used by clothiers in dressing cloth. [AS. preón a clasp, bodkin; akin to D. priem punch, bodkin, awl, G. pfriem, Icel. prjonn a knitting needle, pin, Dan. preen a bodkin, punch.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Roof II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems - First Series, Project Gutenberg ebook #37860; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Collings Squire, The Roof II, in Poems: First Series (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37860, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/squire-poems/the-roof-ii.html, id L23149.
Form and metre
The Roof II is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABB skyA · therebyA · stopB · topB
- 2 AA-- thereA · airA · serene · been
- 4 AABB walkA · talkA · blentB · contentB
- 5 AABB whiteA · lightA · dayB · awayB
- 6 AA-- satA · flatA · serene · been
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It stands so lonely in the sky | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sparrows never come thereby, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The glossy starlings seldom stop | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| To preen and chatter on the top. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For a whole week sometimes up there | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| No wing-wave stirs the quiet air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The roof lies silent and serene | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As though no life had ever been; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till some bright afternoon, athwart | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| The edge two sudden shadows dart, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| And two white pigeons with pink feet | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Flutter above and pitch on it. | 8 | /˘······ |
| Jerking their necks out as they walk | 8 | /˘······ |
| They talk awhile their pigeon-talk, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| A low continuous murmur blent | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Of mock reproaches and content. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Then cease, and sit there warm and white | 8 | ········ |
| An hour, till in the fading light | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| They wake, and know the close of day, | 8 | ········ |
| Flutter above, and fly away, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Leaving the roof whereon they sat | 8 | /˘··˘/·· |
| As 'twas before, a peaceful flat | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Expanse, as silent and serene | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| As though no life had ever been. | 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.