Stepping Westward
"What, you are stepping westward?"--" Yea."'Twould be a wildish destiny,If we, who thus together roamIn a strange Land, and far from home,Were in this place the guests of Chance:Yet who would stop, or fear to advance,Though home or shelter he had none,With such a sky to lead him on?
The dewy ground was dark and cold;Behind, all gloomy to behold;And stepping westward seemed to beA kind of heavenly destiny:I liked the greeting; 'twas a soundOf something without place or bound;And seemed to give me spiritual rightTo travel through that region bright.
The voice was soft, and she who spakeWas walking by her native lake:The salutation had to meThe very sound of courtesy:Its power was felt; and while my eyeWas fixed upon the glowing Sky,The echo of the voice enwroughtA human sweetness with the thoughtOf travelling through the world that layBefore me in my endless way.
Words in this poem
- wildish a.
- Somewhat wild; rather wild.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stepping Westward is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, Stepping Westward, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/stepping-westward.html, id L17387.
Form and metre
Stepping Westward is 26 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 --AABB-- yea · destiny · roamA · homeA · chanceB · advanceB · none · on
- 2 AA--BBCC coldA · beholdA · be · destiny · soundB · boundB · rightC · brightC
- 3 AAB-BBCCDD spakeA · lakeA · meB · courtesy · eyeB · skyB · enwroughtC · thoughtC · layD · wayD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "What, you are stepping westward?"--" Yea." | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| 'Twould be a wildish destiny, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| If we, who thus together roam | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In a strange Land, and far from home, | 8 | ········ |
| Were in this place the guests of Chance: | 8 | ········ |
| Yet who would stop, or fear to advance, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Though home or shelter he had none, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With such a sky to lead him on? | 8 | ········ |
| The dewy ground was dark and cold; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Behind, all gloomy to behold; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And stepping westward seemed to be | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A kind of heavenly destiny: | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| I liked the greeting; 'twas a sound | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of something without place or bound; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And seemed to give me spiritual right | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To travel through that region bright. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The voice was soft, and she who spake | 8 | ········ |
| Was walking by her native lake: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The salutation had to me | 8 | ········ |
| The very sound of courtesy: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Its power was felt; and while my eye | 8 | ·/······ |
| Was fixed upon the glowing Sky, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The echo of the voice enwrought | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A human sweetness with the thought | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of travelling through the world that lay | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Before me in my endless way. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.