At Twilight
The sunset darkens in the west,The sea-gulls haunt the bay,And far and high the swallows flyTo watch the dying day.Now where is she that once with meThe rippling waves would list?And O for the song I loved so long,And the darling lips I kist!
Yon twinkling sail may whiter gleamThan falcon’s snowy wing,Her lances far the evening-starBeyond the waves may fling;Float on, ah float, enchanted boat,Bear true hearts o’er the main,But I shall guide thy helm no more,Nor whisper love again!
Words in this poem
- kist n.
- A chest; hence, a coffin. Jamieson. [See Chest.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- 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
At Twilight is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of Edmund Clarence Stedman, Project Gutenberg ebook #70763; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Clarence Stedman, At Twilight, in The Poetical Works of Edmund Clarence Stedman (1860–1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70763, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stedman-poems/at-twilight.html, id L10705.
Form and metre
At Twilight is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -ABABC-C west · bayA · flyB · dayA · meB · listC · long · kistC
- 2 -A-A-B-B gleam · wingA · star · flingA · boat · mainB · more · againB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The sunset darkens in the west, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The sea-gulls haunt the bay, | 6 | ······ |
| And far and high the swallows fly | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To watch the dying day. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now where is she that once with me | 8 | ········ |
| The rippling waves would list? | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And O for the song I loved so long, | 10 | ·······˘·· |
| And the darling lips I kist! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Yon twinkling sail may whiter gleam | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Than falcon’s snowy wing, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Her lances far the evening-star | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beyond the waves may fling; | 6 | ······ |
| Float on, ah float, enchanted boat, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Bear true hearts o’er the main, | 6 | ······ |
| But I shall guide thy helm no more, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor whisper love again! | 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.