The Sheiling
IT stands aloneUp in a land of stoneAll worn like ancient stairs,A land of rocks and treesNourished on wind and stone.
And all withinLong delicate has been;By arts and kindlinessColoured, sweetened, and warmedFor many years has been.
Safe resting thereMen hear in the travelling airBut music, pictures seeIn the same daily landPainted by the wild air.
One maker's mindMade both, and the house is kindTo the land that gave it peace,And the stone has taken the houseTo its cold heart and is kind.
Words in this poem
- kindliness n.
- Natural inclination; natural course.
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sheiling 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 Sheiling, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/the-sheiling.html, id L08184.
Form and metre
The Sheiling is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 65% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AA--A aloneA · stoneA · stairs · trees · stoneA
- 2 AA--A withinA · beenA · kindliness · warmed · beenA
- 3 AA--A thereA · airA · see · land · airA
- 4 AA--A mindA · kindA · peace · house · kindA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| IT stands alone | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Up in a land of stone | 6 | ······ |
| All worn like ancient stairs, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A land of rocks and trees | 6 | ······ |
| Nourished on wind and stone. | 6 | /˘···· |
| And all within | 4 | ···· |
| Long delicate has been; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| By arts and kindliness | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Coloured, sweetened, and warmed | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| For many years has been. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Safe resting there | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Men hear in the travelling air | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| But music, pictures see | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| In the same daily land | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Painted by the wild air. | 6 | /˘···· |
| One maker's mind | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Made both, and the house is kind | 7 | ······· |
| To the land that gave it peace, | 7 | ······· |
| And the stone has taken the house | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| To its cold heart and is kind. | 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.