The Owl
DOWNHILL I came, hungry, and yet not starved;Cold, yet had heat within me that was proofAgainst the North wind; tired, yet so that restHad seemed the sweetest thing under a roof.
Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.All of the night was quite barred out exceptAn owl's cry, a most melancholy cry
Shaken out long and clear upon the hill,No merry note, nor cause of merriment,But one telling me plain what I escapedAnd others could not, that night, as in I went.
And salted was my food, and my repose,Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voiceSpeaking for all who lay under the stars,Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.
Words in this poem
- downhill adv.
- Towards the bottom of a hill; as, water runs downhill.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Owl 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, The Owl, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/the-owl.html, id L08138.
Form and metre
The Owl is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -A-A starved · proofA · rest · roofA
- 2 -A-A rest · iA · except · cryA
- 3 -A-A hill · merrimentA · escaped · wentA
- 4 -A-A repose · voiceA · stars · rejoiceA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| DOWNHILL I came, hungry, and yet not starved; | 10 | //··/˘···· |
| Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof | 10 | ·········· |
| Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I. | 10 | /·/˘··/˘·· |
| All of the night was quite barred out except | 10 | ·········· |
| An owl's cry, a most melancholy cry | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Shaken out long and clear upon the hill, | 10 | /˘········ |
| No merry note, nor cause of merriment, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| But one telling me plain what I escaped | 10 | ··/˘····˘/ |
| And others could not, that night, as in I went. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And salted was my food, and my repose, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Speaking for all who lay under the stars, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice. | 10 | /˘··˘/˘·˘/ |
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.