The Parting and the Coming Guest
Who watched the worn-out Winter die?Who, peering through the window-paneAt nightfall, under sleet and rainSaw the old graybeard totter by?Who listened to his parting sigh,The sobbing of his feeble breath,His whispered colloquy with Death,And when his all of life was doneStood near to bid a last good-bye?Of all his former friends not oneSaw the forsaken Winter die.
Who welcomed in the maiden Spring?Who heard her footfall, swift and lightAs fairy-dancing in the night?Who guessed what happy dawn would bringThe flutter of her bluebird's wing,The blossom of her mayflower-faceTo brighten every shady place?One morning, down the village street,"Oh, here am I," we heard her sing,--And none had been awake to greetThe coming of the maiden Spring.
But look, her violet eyes are wetWith bright, unfallen, dewy tears;And in her song my fancy hearsA note of sorrow trembling yet.Perhaps, beyond the town, she metOld Winter as he limped awayTo die forlorn, and let him layHis weary head upon her knee,And kissed his forehead with regretFor one so gray and lonely,--see,Her eyes with tender tears are wet.
And so, by night, while we were all at rest,I think the coming sped the parting guest.
Words in this poem
- nightfall n.
- The close of the day.
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
- sobbing n.
- A series of short, convulsive inspirations, the glottis being suddenly closed so that little or no air enters into the lungs.
- colloquy n.
- Mutual discourse of two or more persons; conference; conversation. [L. colloquium. See Collocution.]
- footfall n.
- A setting down of the foot; a footstep; the sound of a footstep.
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Parting and the Coming Guest is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, The Parting and the Coming Guest, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-parting-and-the-coming-guest.html, id L22751.
Form and metre
The Parting and the Coming Guest is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBAACCDADA, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 ABBAACCDADA dieA · paneB · rainB · byA · sighA · breathC · deathC · doneD · byeA · oneD · dieA
- 2 ABBAACCDADA springA · lightB · nightB · bringA · wingA · faceC · placeC · streetD · singA · greetD · springA
- 3 ABBAACCDADA wetA · tearsB · hearsB · yetA · metA · awayC · layC · kneeD · regretA · seeD · wetA
- 4 AA restA · guestA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who watched the worn-out Winter die? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who, peering through the window-pane | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At nightfall, under sleet and rain | 8 | ·/······ |
| Saw the old graybeard totter by? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Who listened to his parting sigh, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The sobbing of his feeble breath, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His whispered colloquy with Death, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| And when his all of life was done | 8 | ········ |
| Stood near to bid a last good-bye? | 8 | ········ |
| Of all his former friends not one | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Saw the forsaken Winter die. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Who welcomed in the maiden Spring? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who heard her footfall, swift and light | 8 | ···/···· |
| As fairy-dancing in the night? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who guessed what happy dawn would bring | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The flutter of her bluebird's wing, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| The blossom of her mayflower-face | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To brighten every shady place? | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| One morning, down the village street, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "Oh, here am I," we heard her sing,-- | 8 | ········ |
| And none had been awake to greet | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The coming of the maiden Spring. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But look, her violet eyes are wet | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With bright, unfallen, dewy tears; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in her song my fancy hears | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A note of sorrow trembling yet. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Perhaps, beyond the town, she met | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Old Winter as he limped away | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| To die forlorn, and let him lay | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| His weary head upon her knee, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And kissed his forehead with regret | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For one so gray and lonely,--see, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her eyes with tender tears are wet. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And so, by night, while we were all at rest, | 10 | ·········· |
| I think the coming sped the parting guest. | 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.