Words
OUT of us allThat make rhymes,Will you chooseSometimes--As the winds useA crack in a wallOr a drain,Their joy or their painTo whistle through--Choose me,You English words?
I know you:You are light as dreams,Tough as oak,Precious as gold,As poppies and corn,Or an old cloak:Sweet as our birdsTo the ear,As the burnet roseIn the heatOf Midsummer:Strange as the racesOf dead and unborn:Strange and sweetEqually,And familiar,To the eye,As the dearest facesThat a man knows,And as lost homes are:But though older farThan oldest yew,--As our hills are, old.--Worn newAgain and again:Young as our streamsAfter rain:And as dearAs the earth which you proveThat we love.
Make me contentWith some sweetnessFrom WalesWhose nightingalesHave no wings,--From Wiltshire and KentAnd Herefordshire,And the villages there,--From the names, and the thingsNo less.
Let me sometimes danceWith you,Or climbOr stand perchanceIn ecstasy,Fixed and freeIn a rhyme,As poets do.
Words in this poem
- midsummer n.
- The middle of summer. Shak. Midsummer daisy (Bot.), the oxeye daisy. [AS. midsumor.]
- unborn a.
- Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Words 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, Words, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/words.html, id L08195.
Form and metre
Words is 59 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 3.9 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% 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 ABCBCADD--- allA · rhymesB · chooseC · sometimesB · useC · wallA · drainD · painD · through · me · words
- 2 ABCDEC-FGH-IEH---IGJJADAKBKFLL youA · dreamsB · oakC · goldD · cornE · cloakC · birds · earF · roseG · heatH · midsummer · racesI · unbornE · sweetH · equally · familiar · eye · facesI · knowsG · areJ · farJ · yewA · oldD · newA · againK · streamsB · rainK · dearF · proveL · loveL
- 3 A-BBCA--C- contentA · sweetness · walesB · nightingalesB · wingsC · kentA · herefordshire · there · thingsC · less
- 4 ABCA--CB danceA · youB · climbC · perchanceA · ecstasy · free · rhymeC · doB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OUT of us all | 4 | ···· |
| That make rhymes, | 3 | ··· |
| Will you choose | 3 | ··· |
| Sometimes-- | 2 | ˘/ |
| As the winds use | 4 | ···· |
| A crack in a wall | 5 | ····· |
| Or a drain, | 3 | ··· |
| Their joy or their pain | 5 | ····· |
| To whistle through-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Choose me, | 2 | ·· |
| You English words? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I know you: | 3 | ··· |
| You are light as dreams, | 5 | ····· |
| Tough as oak, | 3 | ··· |
| Precious as gold, | 4 | /˘·· |
| As poppies and corn, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Or an old cloak: | 4 | ···· |
| Sweet as our birds | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To the ear, | 3 | ··· |
| As the burnet rose | 5 | ··/˘· |
| In the heat | 3 | ··· |
| Of Midsummer: | 4 | ·//˘ |
| Strange as the races | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of dead and unborn: | 5 | ···// |
| Strange and sweet | 3 | ··· |
| Equally, | 3 | /˘˘ |
| And familiar, | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| To the eye, | 3 | ··· |
| As the dearest faces | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| That a man knows, | 4 | ···· |
| And as lost homes are: | 5 | ····· |
| But though older far | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Than oldest yew,-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| As our hills are, old.-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Worn new | 2 | ·· |
| Again and again: | 5 | ˘/·˘/ |
| Young as our streams | 5 | ··/˘· |
| After rain: | 3 | ··· |
| And as dear | 3 | ··· |
| As the earth which you prove | 6 | ······ |
| That we love. | 3 | ··· |
| Make me content | 4 | ··/˘ |
| With some sweetness | 4 | ··/˘ |
| From Wales | 2 | ·· |
| Whose nightingales | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Have no wings,-- | 3 | ··· |
| From Wiltshire and Kent | 5 | ·/··· |
| And Herefordshire, | 5 | ····· |
| And the villages there,-- | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| From the names, and the things | 6 | ······ |
| No less. | 2 | ·· |
| Let me sometimes dance | 5 | ··˘/· |
| With you, | 2 | ·· |
| Or climb | 2 | ·· |
| Or stand perchance | 4 | ··˘/ |
| In ecstasy, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Fixed and free | 3 | ··· |
| In a rhyme, | 3 | ··· |
| As poets do. | 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.