East and West
In the bare midst of Anglesey they showTwo springs which close by one another play;And, “Thirteen hundred years agone,” they say,“Two saints met often where those waters flow.
One came from Penmon westward, and a glowWhitened his face from the sun’s fronting ray;Eastward the other, from the dying day,And he with unsunned face did always go.”
Seiriol the Bright, Kybi the Dark! men said.The seer from the East was then in light,The seer from the West was then in shade.Ah! now ’tis changed. In conquering sunshine brightThe man of the bold West now comes arrayed:He of the mystic East is touched with night.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
East and West is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54985; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matthew Arnold, East and West, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/east-and-west.html, id L06982.
Form and metre
East and West is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBA showA · playB · sayB · flowA
- 2 ABBA glowA · rayB · dayB · goA
- 3 -ABABA said · lightA · shadeB · brightA · arrayedB · nightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the bare midst of Anglesey they show | 10 | ·········· |
| Two springs which close by one another play; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And, “Thirteen hundred years agone,” they say, | 10 | ·///˘·˘/·· |
| “Two saints met often where those waters flow. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| One came from Penmon westward, and a glow | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Whitened his face from the sun’s fronting ray; | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Eastward the other, from the dying day, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And he with unsunned face did always go.” | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Seiriol the Bright, Kybi the Dark! men said. | 10 | ·········· |
| The seer from the East was then in light, | 9 | ········· |
| The seer from the West was then in shade. | 9 | ········· |
| Ah! now ’tis changed. In conquering sunshine bright | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| The man of the bold West now comes arrayed: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| He of the mystic East is touched with night. | 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.