Epilogue
So I sang; but the Muse,Shaking her head, took the harp--Stern interrupted my strain,Angrily smote on the chords.
April showersRush o’er the Yorkshire moors.Stormy, through driving mist,Loom the blurred hills; the rainLashes the newly-made grave.
Unquiet souls!--In the dark fermentation of earth,In the never-idle workshop of nature,In the eternal movement,Ye shall find yourselves again!
Words in this poem
- unquiet v. t.
- To disquiet. Ld. Herbert. [1st pref. un- + quiet.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epilogue 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, Epilogue, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/epilogue.html, id L07065.
Form and metre
Epilogue is 14 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So I sang; but the Muse, | 6 | ······ |
| Shaking her head, took the harp-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Stern interrupted my strain, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Angrily smote on the chords. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| April showers | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Rush o’er the Yorkshire moors. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Stormy, through driving mist, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Loom the blurred hills; the rain | 7 | ···˘··· |
| Lashes the newly-made grave. | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| Unquiet souls! | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| --In the dark fermentation of earth, | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| In the never-idle workshop of nature, | 10 | ··//˘/··/˘ |
| In the eternal movement, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Ye shall find yourselves again! | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
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.