Interval
GONE the wild day:A wilder nightComing makes wayFor brief twilight.
Where the firm soaked roadMounts and is lostIn the high beech-woodIt shines almost.
The beeches keepA stormy rest,Breathing deepOf wind from the west.
The wood is black,With a misty steam.Above, the cloud packBreaks for one gleam.
But the woodman's cotBy the ivied treesAwakens notTo light or breeze.
It smokes aloftUnwavering:It hunches softUnder storm's wing.
It has no careFor gleam or gloom:It stays thereWhile I shall roam,
Die, and forgetThe hill of trees,The gleam, the wet,This roaring peace.
Words in this poem
- ivied a.
- Overgrown with ivy. [From Ivy.]
- 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
Interval is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22423; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edward Thomas, Interval, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/interval.html, id L08143.
Form and metre
Interval is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 dayA · nightB · wayA · twilightB
- 3 ABAB keepA · restB · deepA · westB
- 4 ABAB blackA · steamB · packA · gleamB
- 5 ABAB cotA · treesB · notA · breezeB
- 6 ABAB aloftA · unwaveringB · softA · wingB
- 7 A-A- careA · gloom · thereA · roam
- 8 A-A- forgetA · trees · wetA · peace
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| GONE the wild day: | 4 | ···· |
| A wilder night | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Coming makes way | 4 | /˘·· |
| For brief twilight. | 4 | ··/· |
| Where the firm soaked road | 5 | ····· |
| Mounts and is lost | 4 | ···· |
| In the high beech-wood | 5 | ····· |
| It shines almost. | 4 | ··/· |
| The beeches keep | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A stormy rest, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Breathing deep | 3 | /˘· |
| Of wind from the west. | 5 | ····· |
| The wood is black, | 4 | ···· |
| With a misty steam. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Above, the cloud pack | 5 | ····· |
| Breaks for one gleam. | 4 | ···· |
| But the woodman's cot | 5 | ··/˘· |
| By the ivied trees | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Awakens not | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| To light or breeze. | 4 | ···· |
| It smokes aloft | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Unwavering: | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| It hunches soft | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Under storm's wing. | 4 | ···· |
| It has no care | 4 | ···· |
| For gleam or gloom: | 4 | ···· |
| It stays there | 3 | ··· |
| While I shall roam, | 4 | ···· |
| Die, and forget | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The hill of trees, | 4 | ···· |
| The gleam, the wet, | 4 | ···· |
| This roaring peace. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.