Revolutions
Before man parted for this earthly strand,While yet upon the verge of heaven he stood,God put a heap of letters in his hand,And bade him make with them what word he could.
And man has turned them many times; made Greece,Rome, England, France; yes, nor in vain essayedWay after way, changes that never cease!The letters have combined, something was made.
But ah! an inextinguishable senseHaunts him that he has not made what he should;That he has still, though old, to recommence,Since he has not yet found the word God would.
And empire after empire, at their heightOf sway, have felt this boding sense come on;Have felt their huge frames not constructed right,And drooped, and slowly died upon their throne.
One day, thou say’st, there will at last appearThe word, the order, which God meant should be.--Ah! we shall know that well when it comes near;The band will quit man’s heart, he will breathe free.
Words in this poem
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- recommence v. i.
- To commence or begin again. Howell.
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
- 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
Revolutions 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, Revolutions, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/revolutions.html, id L07050.
Form and metre
Revolutions is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 20% 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 ABAB strandA · stoodB · handA · couldB
- 2 ABAB greeceA · essayedB · ceaseA · madeB
- 3 ABAB senseA · shouldB · recommenceA · wouldB
- 4 A-A- heightA · on · rightA · throne
- 5 ABAB appearA · beB · nearA · freeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Before man parted for this earthly strand, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While yet upon the verge of heaven he stood, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| God put a heap of letters in his hand, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And bade him make with them what word he could. | 10 | ·········· |
| And man has turned them many times; made Greece, | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Rome, England, France; yes, nor in vain essayed | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Way after way, changes that never cease! | 9 | ····/˘·/· |
| The letters have combined, something was made. | 10 | ·/˘·˘//˘·· |
| But ah! an inextinguishable sense | 10 | ·········· |
| Haunts him that he has not made what he should; | 10 | ·········· |
| That he has still, though old, to recommence, | 10 | ·········· |
| Since he has not yet found the word God would. | 10 | ·········· |
| And empire after empire, at their height | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of sway, have felt this boding sense come on; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Have felt their huge frames not constructed right, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And drooped, and slowly died upon their throne. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| One day, thou say’st, there will at last appear | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The word, the order, which God meant should be. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| --Ah! we shall know that well when it comes near; | 10 | ·········· |
| The band will quit man’s heart, he will breathe free. | 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.