On the Rhine
Vain is the effort to forget.Some day I shall be cold, I know,As is the eternal moon-lit snowOf the high Alps, to which I go;But ah! not yet, not yet!
Vain is the agony of grief.’Tis true, indeed, an iron knotTies straitly up from mine thy lot;And, were it snapped--thou lov’st me not!But is despair relief?
A while let me with thought have done.And as this brimmed unwrinkled Rhine,And that far purple mountain line,Lie sweetly in the look divineOf the slow-sinking sun;
So let me lie, and, calm as they,Let beam upon my inward viewThose eyes of deep, soft, lucent hue,--Eyes too expressive to be blue,Too lovely to be gray.
Ah, quiet, all things feel thy balm!Those blue hills too, this river’s flow,Were restless once, but long ago.Tamed is their turbulent youthful glow;Their joy is in their calm.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- straitly adv.
- In a strait manner; narrowly; strictly; rigorously. Mark i. 43.
- lucent a.
- Shining; bright; resplendent. [L. lucens, p. pr. of lucere to shine, fr. lux, lucis, light.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Rhine 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, On the Rhine, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/on-the-rhine.html, id L07016.
Form and metre
On the Rhine is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABBBA forgetA · knowB · snowB · goB · yetA
- 2 ABBBA griefA · knotB · lotB · notB · reliefA
- 3 ABBBA doneA · rhineB · lineB · divineB · sunA
- 4 ABBBA theyA · viewB · hueB · blueB · grayA
- 5 ABBBA balmA · flowB · agoB · glowB · calmA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vain is the effort to forget. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Some day I shall be cold, I know, | 8 | ········ |
| As is the eternal moon-lit snow | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Of the high Alps, to which I go; | 8 | ········ |
| But ah! not yet, not yet! | 6 | ······ |
| Vain is the agony of grief. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| ’Tis true, indeed, an iron knot | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Ties straitly up from mine thy lot; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, were it snapped--thou lov’st me not! | 8 | ········ |
| But is despair relief? | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| A while let me with thought have done. | 8 | ········ |
| And as this brimmed unwrinkled Rhine, | 8 | ····˘··· |
| And that far purple mountain line, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Lie sweetly in the look divine | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Of the slow-sinking sun; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So let me lie, and, calm as they, | 8 | ········ |
| Let beam upon my inward view | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Those eyes of deep, soft, lucent hue,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Eyes too expressive to be blue, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Too lovely to be gray. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ah, quiet, all things feel thy balm! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Those blue hills too, this river’s flow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Were restless once, but long ago. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Tamed is their turbulent youthful glow; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Their joy is in their calm. | 6 | ······ |
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.