To the Sun-Set Breeze
Ah, whispering, something again, unseen,Where late this heated day thou enterest at my window, door,Thou, laving, tempering all, cool-freshing, gently vitalizingMe, old, alone, sick, weak-down, melted-worn with sweat;Thou, nestling, folding close and firm yet soft, companion betterthan talk, book, art,(Thou hast, O Nature! elements! utterance to my heart beyond therest--and this is of them,)So sweet thy primitive taste to breathe within--thy soothing fingersmy face and hands,Thou, messenger--magical strange bringer to body and spirit of me,(Distances balk’d--occult medicines penetrating me from head to foot,)I feel the sky, the prairies vast--I feel the mighty northern lakes,I feel the ocean and the forest--somehow I feel the globe itselfswift-swimming in space;Thou blown from lips so loved, now gone--haply from endless store,God-sent,(For thou art spiritual, Godly, most of all known to my sense,)Minister to speak to me, here and now, what word has never told, andcannot tell,Art thou not universal concrete’s distillation? Law’s, allAstronomy’s last refinement?Hast thou no soul? Can I not know, identify thee?
Words in this poem
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- nestling n.
- A young bird which has not abandoned the nest. Piers Plowman.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- bringer n.
- One who brings.
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- identify v. i.
- To become the same; to coalesce in interest, purpose, use, effect, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Sun-Set Breeze is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, To the Sun-Set Breeze, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/to-the-sun-set-breeze.html, id L04132.
Form and metre
To the Sun-Set Breeze is 23 lines in a single stanza. 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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----B---B----A------B unseen · doorA · vitalizing · sweat · better · art · theB · them · fingers · hands · meB · foot · lakes · itself · space · storeA · sent · sense · and · tell · all · refinement · theeB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ah, whispering, something again, unseen, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘/ |
| Where late this heated day thou enterest at my window, door, | 15 | ···/˘··/˘˘··/˘· |
| Thou, laving, tempering all, cool-freshing, gently vitalizing | 16 | ···/˘˘··/˘/˘···· |
| Me, old, alone, sick, weak-down, melted-worn with sweat; | 12 | ··˘/···/˘··· |
| Thou, nestling, folding close and firm yet soft, companion better | 15 | ·/˘/˘·····˘/˘/˘ |
| than talk, book, art, | 4 | ···· |
| (Thou hast, O Nature! elements! utterance to my heart beyond the | 17 | ···/˘/˘˘/˘˘······ |
| rest--and this is of them,) | 6 | ······ |
| So sweet thy primitive taste to breathe within--thy soothing fingers | 16 | ···/˘˘······/˘/˘ |
| my face and hands, | 4 | ···· |
| Thou, messenger--magical strange bringer to body and spirit of me, | 18 | ·/˘˘/˘˘·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| (Distances balk’d--occult medicines penetrating me from head to foot,) | 18 | /˘˘·˘//˘˘/˘·˘····· |
| I feel the sky, the prairies vast--I feel the mighty northern lakes, | 16 | ·····/˘····/˘/˘· |
| I feel the ocean and the forest--somehow I feel the globe itself | 17 | ···/˘··/˘/·····˘/ |
| swift-swimming in space; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Thou blown from lips so loved, now gone--haply from endless store, | 14 | ········/˘·/˘· |
| God-sent, | 2 | ·· |
| (For thou art spiritual, Godly, most of all known to my sense,) | 16 | ···/˘˘˘/˘······· |
| Minister to speak to me, here and now, what word has never told, and | 17 | /˘˘··········/˘·· |
| cannot tell, | 3 | /˘· |
| Art thou not universal concrete’s distillation? Law’s, all | 15 | ····˘/˘˘/·˘/˘·· |
| Astronomy’s last refinement? | 8 | ˘/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Hast thou no soul? Can I not know, identify thee? | 13 | ········˘/˘·· |
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.