The Window
All night long, by a distant bellThe passing hours were notchedOn the dark, while her breathing rose and fell;And the spark of life I watchedIn her face was glowing, or fading,--who could tell?--And the open window of the room,With a flare of yellow light,Was peering out into the gloom,Like an eye that searched the night.
Oh, what do you see in the dark, little window, and why do you peer?"I see that the garden is crowded with creeping forms of fear:Little white ghosts in the locust-tree, wave in the night-wind's breath,And low in the leafy laurels the lurking shadow of death."
Sweet, clear notes of a waking birdTold of the passing awayOf the dark,--and my darling may have heard;For she smiled in her sleep, while the rayOf the rising dawn spoke joy without a word,Till the splendour born in the east outburnedThe yellow lamplight, pale and thin,And the open window slowly turnedTo the eye of the morning, looking in.
Oh, what do you see in the room, little window, that makes you sobright?"I see that a child is asleep on her pillow, soft and white:With the rose of life on her lips, the pulse of life in her breast,And the arms of God around her, she quietly takes her rest."
Words in this poem
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- lamplight n.
- Light from a lamp.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Window 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 Window, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-window.html, id L22862.
Form and metre
The Window is 27 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABACDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABACDCD bellA · notchedB · fellA · watchedB · tellA · roomC · lightD · gloomC · nightD
- 2 AABB peerA · fearA · breathB · deathB
- 3 ABABACDCD birdA · awayB · heardA · rayB · wordA · outburnedC · thinD · turnedC · inD
- 4 -AABB so · brightA · whiteA · breastB · restB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All night long, by a distant bell | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The passing hours were notched | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| On the dark, while her breathing rose and fell; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And the spark of life I watched | 7 | ······· |
| In her face was glowing, or fading,--who could tell?-- | 12 | ····/˘·/˘··· |
| And the open window of the room, | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| With a flare of yellow light, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Was peering out into the gloom, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like an eye that searched the night. | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, what do you see in the dark, little window, and why do you peer? | 17 | ········/˘/˘····· |
| "I see that the garden is crowded with creeping forms of fear: | 15 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘··· |
| Little white ghosts in the locust-tree, wave in the night-wind's breath, | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| And low in the leafy laurels the lurking shadow of death." | 15 | ····/˘/˘·/˘/··· |
| Sweet, clear notes of a waking bird | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Told of the passing away | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Of the dark,--and my darling may have heard; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For she smiled in her sleep, while the ray | 10 | ···˘······ |
| Of the rising dawn spoke joy without a word, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Till the splendour born in the east outburned | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| The yellow lamplight, pale and thin, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And the open window slowly turned | 10 | ··/˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| To the eye of the morning, looking in. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Oh, what do you see in the room, little window, that makes you so | 16 | ········/˘/˘···· |
| bright? | 1 | · |
| "I see that a child is asleep on her pillow, soft and white: | 15 | ······˘/··/˘··· |
| With the rose of life on her lips, the pulse of life in her breast, | 15 | ··············· |
| And the arms of God around her, she quietly takes her rest." | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
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.