The Full Text of “The Storm-Wind”
1When the swift-rolling brook, swollen deep,
2Rushes on by the alders, full speed,
3And the wild-blowing winds lowly sweep
4O'er the quivering leaf and the weed,
5And the willow tree writhes in each limb,
6Over sedge-beds that reel by the brim—
7The man that is staggering by
8Holds his hat to his head by the brim;
9And the girl, as her hair-locks outfly,
10Puts a foot out, to keep herself trim,
11And the quivering wavelings o'erspread
12The small pool where the bird dips his head.
13But out at my house, in the lee
14Of the nook, where the winds die away,
15The light swimming airs, round the tree
16And the low-swinging ivy stem, play
17So soft that a mother that's nigh
18Her still cradle may hear her babe sigh.
The Full Text of “The Storm-Wind”
1When the swift-rolling brook, swollen deep,
2Rushes on by the alders, full speed,
3And the wild-blowing winds lowly sweep
4O'er the quivering leaf and the weed,
5And the willow tree writhes in each limb,
6Over sedge-beds that reel by the brim—
7The man that is staggering by
8Holds his hat to his head by the brim;
9And the girl, as her hair-locks outfly,
10Puts a foot out, to keep herself trim,
11And the quivering wavelings o'erspread
12The small pool where the bird dips his head.
13But out at my house, in the lee
14Of the nook, where the winds die away,
15The light swimming airs, round the tree
16And the low-swinging ivy stem, play
17So soft that a mother that's nigh
18Her still cradle may hear her babe sigh.
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“The Storm-Wind” Introduction
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"The Storm-Wind" was written by the 19th-century English poet and priest William Barnes. The poem describes fearsome winds whipping through a landscape, shaking streams, trees, and people alike. The speaker, however, remains safe and sound inside his house, which is protected from the wind and so peaceful that a mother can hear her sleeping baby sigh. The poem illustrates both the power of nature as well as the comforting reassurance of home and family.
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“The Storm-Wind” Summary
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The stream rolls swiftly by, grown deep with storm waters, rushing past the alder trees along its banks as fast as it can. The wild winds blow low across the ground, over the trembling leaves and grasses. The willow tree's branches twist above the wobbling grasses along the riverbank.
A man struggles to walk past, holding onto his hat by the brim to stop it from flying away. And there's a girl, her hair flying all over the place, who tries to keep herself steady. Trembling ripples spread across the small pool of water from which a bird drinks.
But here at my house, which is in a sheltered alcove, the winds die down. A gentle breeze blows around the tree and the dangling stalk of an ivy plant. It blows so softly that a mother, watching over a cradle, can hear her sleeping baby sigh.
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“The Storm-Wind” Themes
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The Awesome Power of Nature
"The Storm-Wind" illustrates the power of nature as it whips up a storm. The speaker describes the "storm-wind" of the title tearing through the landscape, creating chaos and danger. A heaving brook rushes past its banks; waves ripple through the small pool of water from which a little bird tries to drink; leaves quiver, as though in fear, and the willow tree "writhes" as if in agony. Nature, in the poem, is capable of great terror and destruction.
Everything, including humanity, is at the mercy of this storm the poem describes: a man caught outside has to hold onto his hat to prevent it from flying away while a passing girl, hair swirling all around, must try to steady herself after almost getting knocked over by the wind. These scenes suggest the general fragility of human beings in the face of nature's awesome might.
And yet, the poem ends with a tender scene that illustrates nature's protective power. The speaker's house is located in "the lee / Of the nook"—that is, in a sheltered alcove—"where the winds die away." It's "so soft" and quiet inside the speaker's house that "a mother" (perhaps the speaker's wife) can hear the "sigh" of her sleeping baby. Knowing nature's capacity for destruction makes this peaceful scene seem all the more precious and fragile. The poem perhaps reminds people to be humble in the face of nature: to know its power far exceeds humanity's own and to appreciate the beauty and serenity of its calmer moments.
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The Comfort and Safety of Home
"The Storm-Wind" contrasts the chaos and terror of a storm with the serenity and peace inside the speaker's house. Read as a kind of allegory, the poem presents home as a calming and reassuring place to be—as a shelter from the metaphorical "storm-winds" of life.
The world outside in the storm and that inside speaker's home could hardly be more different. The storm is wild, fierce, and, potentially, destructive. Its winds rile up the waters of the "swift-rolling brook," make tree limbs "writhe[]" as though in pain, and make leaves and puddles "quiver" as though terrified. Those people unlucky enough to get caught outside in the storm seem fragile in the face of nature's might, described as tightly gripping their clothing and trying to keep their balance while "staggering by."
The speaker's house, meanwhile, is a refuge of quiet and calm. Within the little "nook" that surrounds and physically shelters this house, those violent winds dwindle to a pleasant breeze. They play gently with the "low-swinging ivy," showing none of the menace described earlier in the poem. In fact, it's so calm inside the speaker’s house that a woman, presumably the speaker's wife, can hear the restful sighs of her own sleeping baby.
The soothing sweetness of this scene suggests the comforting power of home and family. Both act as a refuge from the inevitable "storms" of life, offering peace and perspective in the face of hardship.
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Storm-Wind”
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Lines 1-6
When the swift-rolling brook, swollen deep,
Rushes on by the alders, full speed,
And the wild-blowing winds lowly sweep
O'er the quivering leaf and the weed,
And the willow tree writhes in each limb,
Over sedge-beds that reel by the brim—The poem begins with powerful imagery that captures the violence and power of the "storm-winds" of the title. These winds, this stanza makes clear, transform a landscape that might otherwise sound rather pleasant and bucolic into something chaotic and frightening.
The "swift-rolling," or quickly moving, "brook" is "swollen deep" with stormwater. A brook is usually a small stream, but the storm has turned this brook into something heaving and ferocious. The smooth alliteration of "swift" and "swollen" and the round assonance and consonance of "rolling" and "swollen" help to bring this imagery of a bloated, roiling stream to life.
The brook barrels past the alder trees along its banks "at full speed" as the winds blow low and "wild" across the land, rushing over "quivering" little plants. The word "quivering" connotes fear, suggesting that this "leaf" and "weed" are shaking in terror as the wind sweeps across the land.
The sounds of these lines again make the scene at hand more vivid for readers. Here, listen to the whooshing /w/ alliteration, the liquid /l/ sounds, and the long /ee/ and /o/ assonance:
And the wild-blowing winds lowly sweep
O'er the quivering leaf and the weed,The poem simply sounds intense, evoking the force of that mighty wind.
Next, the speaker turns to "the willow tree" that "writhes in each limb." In other words, its branches twist and contort as though in pain, looking like flailing arms and legs. The "sedge-beds" or rushes/grasses also convulse in the wind, "reel[ing]" (or shivering/swaying/staggering) "by the brim," or banks of the brook.
Quiver, writhe, reel—these are all words typically used to describe human movements. The speaker is subtly personifying various parts of the scene in order to dramatize the wind's frightening, devastating power. And again, thick sound patterning makes the imagery more striking: here, listen to the assonance of "sedge-beds," and the alliteration/consonance of "beds," "reel," "by," and "brim."
By line 6, readers have a clear sense of the poem's rhyme scheme. Each stanza follows the pattern ABABCC. The shift from an alternating rhyme pattern to a swift rhyming couplet ("limb/brim"). The poem's meter, meanwhile, is a rough anapestic trimeter: lines of three anapests, poetic feet with three syllables that follow a da-da-DUM pattern. For example:
And the wil- | low tree writhes | in each limb,
The meter isn't perfect throughout the poem, but it adds a galloping rhythm that helps to convey the storm's power as it blasts through the landscape.
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Lines 7-12
The man that is staggering by
Holds his hat to his head by the brim;
And the girl, as her hair-locks outfly,
Puts a foot out, to keep herself trim,
And the quivering wavelings o'erspread
The small pool where the bird dips his head. -
Lines 13-18
But out at my house, in the lee
Of the nook, where the winds die away,
The light swimming airs, round the tree
And the low-swinging ivy stem, play
So soft that a mother that's nigh
Her still cradle may hear her babe sigh.
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“The Storm-Wind” Symbols
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The Storm-Wind
On one level, the poem is about a literal storm: the winds howling through the first two stanzas reflect the very real power and ferocity of the natural world. It's also possible to read the poem as an allegory, however, and to interpret the "storm-wind" of the title as symbolizing the trials and tribulations of life. Life can get "stormy," the poem suggests in this reading; it can feel as destabilizing and frightening as a vicious wind that whips up brooks and makes trees tremble. The fact that these winds "die away" around the speaker's house, becoming nothing more than "light swimming airs," suggests that home and family can provide a refuge from life's pain and uncertainty.
- See where this symbol appears in the poem.
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“The Storm-Wind” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Alliteration helps to conjure up the sounds of the whipping "storm-wind." In the first stanza, for example, the hissing sibilance of "swift," "swollen," "speed," and "sweep" combines with frequent /w/ sounds to evoke the whoosh and rush of the wind as it billows across the landscape. Many of these /w/ sounds are alliterative ("wild," "weed," "willow," etc.), while others are an example of broader consonance. The stanza simply sounds like a storm:
When the swift-rolling brook, swollen deep,
Rushes on by the alders, full speed,
And the wild-blowing winds lowly sweep
O'er the quivering leaf and the weed,
And the willow tree writhes in each limb,There are other alliterative words here as well, such as "sedge-beds" and "by the brim." These bold, forceful sounds evoke the strength of the wind. Assonance ("swift-rolling brook, swollen," "leaf and weed," "sedge-beds") makes the stanza yet more intense.
In the next stanza, the /h/ alliteration of "Holds his hat to his head" conveys the immense effort it takes this man to hold himself together: those /h/ sounds fill the line with puffs of air, as though to mirror the man's huffing effort while "staggering by."
Many of the same sounds appear in the final stanza—but here their effect is quite different. The /h/, /w/, and /s/ alliteration of the poem's final lines convey the peace and gentleness of the world within the speaker's house. For example, listen to the poem's closing couplet:
So soft that a mother that's nigh
Her still cradle may hear her babe sigh.The breathy /h/ and smooth /s/ sounds are lilting and gentle, evoking the sleeping baby's soft breath rather than the fearsome power of the storm.
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Repetition
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Imagery
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Personification
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"The Storm-Wind" Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Swift-rolling brook
- Alders
- Lowly
- O'er
- Quivering
- Weed
- Writhes
- Sedge-beds
- Reel
- Brim
- Outfly
- Trim
- Wavelings
- O'erspread
- Lee
- Nook
- Nigh
- Babe
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Quickly moving stream.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Storm-Wind”
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Form
"The Storm-wind" contains three sestets (six-line stanzas). These can each be broken up further into a quatrain followed by a couplet, based on the poem's rhyme scheme.
At first, this steady, musical form seems at odds with the poem's content: the poem's first two stanzas both describe a storm's violent power, which makes both the landscape and people caught outside stagger and tremble. Yet the final stanza reveals that the speaker is safe and sound at home. The poem's predictable, controlled form perhaps reflects the calm the speaker feels in the sheltered "nook" of his house.
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Meter
The dominant meter in "The Storm-Wind" is anapestic trimeter. Anapests are metrical feet that follow an unstressed-unstressed-stressed pattern of syllables (da-da-DUM), and trimeter means there are three of these feet in each line. Here are lines 5 and 11 to illustrate this meter in action:
And the wil- | low tree writhes | in each limb
And the qui- | vering wave- | lings o'erspread
The poem's meter is rough, however, with few lines following anapestic trimeter perfectly. Many lines are also open to interpretation. Line 1, for example, could be read as anapestic trimeter—and was probably intended as such:
When the swift- | rolling brook, | swollen deep,
But it's also possible to read line 1 as having a stressed beat on "roll." Other lines contain even clearer variations, as is the case with line 7:
The man | that is stag- | gering by
The first foot here drops a syllable, turning it into an iamb (da-DUM). Such variations keep readers on their toes. Broadly, though, there's a galloping rhythm flowing through the poem that evokes the ferocious power of the "storm-wind."
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Rhyme Scheme
"The Storm-Wind follows an ABABCC rhyme scheme. Each quatrain, then, starts with four lines of alternating rhymes followed by a couplet that adds a sense of finality to the close of each stanza. Some rhyme sounds repeat across stanzas as well. For example, lines 5, 6, 8, and 10 all rhyme (and lines 6 and 8 in fact repeat the exact same word—an example of identical rhyme):
And the willow tree writhes in each limb,
Over sedge-beds that reel by the brim—[...]
Holds his hat to his head by the brim;
[...]
Puts a foot out, to keep herself trim,Accounting for these shared sounds, the scheme of the first two stanzas is more accurately written as: ABABCC DCDCEE. Those "D" rhymes then reappear at the end of the third stanza in "night"/"sigh." In returning to the same rhyme sounds, the speaker creates a link, a kind of sonic throughline, between all three stanzas.
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“The Storm-Wind” Speaker
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The poem's speaker doesn't appear in the first two stanzas at all. These lines focus instead on the way the "storm-wind" whips across the land, riling up the "swift-rolling brook," twisting tree limbs, and almost knocking over an unlucky "man" and "girl" caught outside.
The speaker only appears in the third stanza, when the poem reveals that he's safe and cozy inside his house "in the lee / Of the nook" (that is, in a little recess or alcove that's sheltered from the wind). The poem implies that the speaker's wife and child are in the house too and that the speaker is grateful to be home rather than caught in the wind.
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“The Storm-Wind” Setting
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The poem takes place during a mighty storm. On any other day, the landscape in the poem sounds like it might be peaceful and lovely: there's a rolling brook lined by willow trees and grasses. Yet the powerful "storm-wind" of the title riles everything up: the brook becomes "swift-rolling" and "swollen deep," a "willow tree writhes in each limb," and leaves tremble. The few people caught outside in the storm might hold tight to their clothing as they "stagger[]" through the wind.
The setting abruptly shifts in the third stanza, moving to the speaker's house. This house is located in a little alcove that's sheltered from the storm; as such, the winds "die away," becoming nothing more than a pleasant, playful breeze. The world in and around the speaker's house seems all the more serene and precious in light of the storm's violence.
While the poem never specifies where it's set, it was undoubtedly inspired by the weather and landscapes of Dorset in southwest England, where Barnes spent most of his life.
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Storm-Wind”
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Literary Context
William Barnes (1801 to 1886) was many things: poet, priest, literary critic, linguist, mathematician, artist, and inventor. He was born in Dorset in southwest England, where he stayed for the majority of his life. It's likely that Dorset's landscapes inspired the setting of "The Storm-Wind."
With its steady stanza lengths and regular rhyme scheme, "The Storm-Wind" is very much a typical Victorian-era poem in terms of its style. Victorian poets' approach to nature, however, was more varied. By and large, writers of the era had a less idealistic outlook than that of the earlier Romantics. Many depicted the world in bleak, cynical terms, an approach that contrasted with the celebratory tone employed by the Romantics.
Poets like Gerard Manley Hopkins, a contemporary of Barnes, viewed nature through a religious lens, praising its majesty. Others, like "Dover Beach" writer Matthew Arnold, described an emptiness in nature that they felt echoed humankind's loss of religious faith. "The Storm-Wind" perhaps sits somewhere in between these two extremes, noting nature's capacity for destruction while also cherishing the shelter provided by a natural "nook" in the land.
Historical Context
England toward the end of the 19th century was in the midst of the Second Industrial Revolution, a period of rapid technological advancement in both manufacturing and transportation. The Second Industrial Revolution also led to widespread degradation of nature from the exploitative mining and harvesting of natural resources, pollution emitted by factories, and the expansion of urban and suburban spaces into what was formerly wilderness. Many artists and writers (and people from all walks of life) viewed this destruction of nature with alarm and despair. The description of the storm's power in this poem reflects a clear (albeit perhaps begrudging) respect for nature's power.
The Victorian period was also an era of strict morals and religiosity on the one hand and scientific challenges to the accepted dogma on the other. Geological discoveries and Darwin's theories of evolution led to a crisis of faith as many questioned the biblical account of the world's creation. Barnes's own Christian faith remained strong, however, and he was famously energetic as a religious leader. The sheltering nook depicted in "The Storm-Wind" might evoke the comfort Barnes found in his faith in God.
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More “The Storm-Wind” Resources
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External Resources
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Remembering William Barnes — Watch a recent celebration of Barnes's life and work, which includes numerous readings of his poems.
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Victorian Nature Poetry — Learn more about Victorian poets' attitudes towards the natural world.
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Visit Dorset — Check out the tourism website for Barnes's hometime (which likely inspired the scene in "The Storm-Wind").
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The William Barnes Society — Learn more about the poet's life and work from the society set up in his name.
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