Self-Deception
Say, what blinds us, that we claim the gloryOf possessing powers not our share?--Since man woke on earth, he knows his story;But, before we woke on earth, we were.
Long, long since, undowered yet, our spiritRoamed, ere birth, the treasuries of God;Saw the gifts, the powers it might inherit,Asked an outfit for its earthly road.
Then, as now, this tremulous, eager beingStrained and longed, and grasped each gift it saw;Then, as now, a Power beyond our seeingStaved us back, and gave our choice the law.
Ah! whose hand that day through heaven guidedMan’s new spirit, since it was not we?Ah! who swayed our choice, and who decidedWhat our gifts and what our wants should be?
For, alas! he left us each retainingShreds of gifts which he refused in full;Still these waste us with their hopeless straining,Still the attempt to use them proves them null.
And on earth we wander, groping, reeling;Powers stir in us, stir and disappear.Ah! and he, who placed our master-feeling,Failed to place that master-feeling clear.
We but dream we have our wished-for powers;Ends we seek, we never shall attain.Ah! some power exists there, which is ours?Some end is there, we indeed may gain?
Words in this poem
- swayed a.
- Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.
- 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
Self-Deception 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, Self-Deception, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/self-deception.html, id L07019.
Form and metre
Self-Deception is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 A-A- gloryA · share · storyA · were
- 3 ABAB beingA · sawB · seeingA · lawB
- 4 ABAB guidedA · weB · decidedA · beB
- 5 A-A- retainingA · full · strainingA · null
- 6 ABAB reelingA · disappearB · feelingA · clearB
- 7 ABAB powersA · attainB · oursA · gainB
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Say, what blinds us, that we claim the glory | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Of possessing powers not our share? | 8 | ·˘/˘/·/· |
| --Since man woke on earth, he knows his story; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| But, before we woke on earth, we were. | 9 | ········· |
| Long, long since, undowered yet, our spirit | 9 | ·······// |
| Roamed, ere birth, the treasuries of God; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Saw the gifts, the powers it might inherit, | 10 | ····/··˘/˘ |
| Asked an outfit for its earthly road. | 9 | ··/···/˘· |
| Then, as now, this tremulous, eager being | 9 | ····/˘/˘/ |
| Strained and longed, and grasped each gift it saw; | 9 | ········· |
| Then, as now, a Power beyond our seeing | 9 | ····/··// |
| Staved us back, and gave our choice the law. | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Ah! whose hand that day through heaven guided | 9 | ······//˘ |
| Man’s new spirit, since it was not we? | 8 | ··/····· |
| Ah! who swayed our choice, and who decided | 10 | ···/···˘/˘ |
| What our gifts and what our wants should be? | 9 | ·/···/··· |
| For, alas! he left us each retaining | 10 | ·˘/····˘/˘ |
| Shreds of gifts which he refused in full; | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Still these waste us with their hopeless straining, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Still the attempt to use them proves them null. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And on earth we wander, groping, reeling; | 10 | ····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Powers stir in us, stir and disappear. | 9 | /······˘/ |
| Ah! and he, who placed our master-feeling, | 10 | ·····//˘/˘ |
| Failed to place that master-feeling clear. | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| We but dream we have our wished-for powers; | 9 | ·····/··/ |
| Ends we seek, we never shall attain. | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| Ah! some power exists there, which is ours? | 9 | ··/˘/···/ |
| Some end is there, we indeed may gain? | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
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