Stagirius
Thou, who dost dwell alone;Thou, who dost know thine own;Thou, to whom all are knownFrom the cradle to the grave,--Save, oh! save.From the world’s temptations,From tribulations,From that fierce anguishWherein we languish,From that torpor deepWherein we lie asleep,Heavy as death, cold as the grave,Save, oh! save.
When the soul, growing clearer,Sees God no nearer;When the soul, mounting higher,To God comes no nigher;But the arch-fiend PrideMounts at her side,Foiling her high emprise,Sealing her eagle eyes,And, when she fain would soar,Makes idols to adore,Changing the pure emotionOf her high devotion,To a skin-deep senseOf her own eloquence;Strong to deceive, strong to enslave,--Save, oh! save.
From the ingrained fashionOf this earthly natureThat mars thy creature;From grief that is but passion,From mirth that is but feigning,From tears that bring no healing,From wild and weak complaining,Thine old strength revealing,Save, oh! save.From doubt, where all is double;Where wise men are not strong,Where comfort turns to trouble,Where just men suffer wrong;Where sorrow treads on joy,Where sweet things soonest cloy,Where faiths are built on dust,Where love is half mistrust,Hungry, and barren, and sharp as the sea,--Oh! set us free.Oh, let the false dream fly,Where our sick souls do lieTossing continually!Oh, where thy voice doth come,Let all doubts be dumb,Let all words be mild,All strifes be reconciled,All pains beguiled!Light bring no blindness,Love no unkindness,Knowledge no ruin,Fear no undoing!From the cradle to the grave,Save, oh! save.
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- foiling n.
- A foil. Simmonds.
- emprise n.
- An enterprise; endeavor; adventure. [OF. emprise, fr. emprendre to undertake; pref. em- (L. in) + F. prendre to take, L. prehendere, prendere; prae before + a verb akin to E. get. See Get, and cf. ]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- cloy v. t.
- To fill or choke up; to stop up; to clog. [OE. cloer to nail up, F. clouer, fr. OF. clo nail, F. clou, fr. L. clavus nail. Cf. 3d Clove.]
- undoing n.
- The reversal of what has been done.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stagirius 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, Stagirius, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/stagirius.html, id L06953.
Form and metre
Stagirius is 62 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 68% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.8 syllables. 25 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AAABBCCDDEEBB aloneA · ownA · knownA · graveB · saveB · temptationsC · tribulationsC · anguishD · languishD · deepE · asleepE · graveB · saveB
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH clearerA · nearerA · higherB · nigherB · prideC · sideC · empriseD · eyesD · soarE · adoreE · emotionF · devotionF · senseG · eloquenceG · enslaveH · saveH
- 3 A--ABCBC-DBDBEEFFGGGG-HHIIIJJ--KK fashionA · nature · creature · passionA · feigningB · healingC · complainingB · revealingC · save · doubleD · strongB · troubleD · wrongB · joyE · cloyE · dustF · mistrustF · seaG · freeG · flyG · lieG · continually · comeH · dumbH · mildI · reconciledI · beguiledI · blindnessJ · unkindnessJ · ruin · undoing · graveK · saveK
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thou, who dost dwell alone; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thou, who dost know thine own; | 6 | ······ |
| Thou, to whom all are known | 6 | ······ |
| From the cradle to the grave,-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Save, oh! save. | 3 | ··· |
| From the world’s temptations, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| From tribulations, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| From that fierce anguish | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Wherein we languish, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| From that torpor deep | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Wherein we lie asleep, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Heavy as death, cold as the grave, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Save, oh! save. | 3 | ··· |
| When the soul, growing clearer, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Sees God no nearer; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| When the soul, mounting higher, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To God comes no nigher; | 6 | ······ |
| But the arch-fiend Pride | 5 | ····· |
| Mounts at her side, | 4 | ···· |
| Foiling her high emprise, | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Sealing her eagle eyes, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| And, when she fain would soar, | 6 | ······ |
| Makes idols to adore, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Changing the pure emotion | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| Of her high devotion, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| To a skin-deep sense | 5 | ····· |
| Of her own eloquence; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Strong to deceive, strong to enslave,-- | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Save, oh! save. | 3 | ··· |
| From the ingrained fashion | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Of this earthly nature | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| That mars thy creature; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| From grief that is but passion, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| From mirth that is but feigning, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| From tears that bring no healing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| From wild and weak complaining, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Thine old strength revealing, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Save, oh! save. | 3 | ··· |
| From doubt, where all is double; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Where wise men are not strong, | 6 | ······ |
| Where comfort turns to trouble, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Where just men suffer wrong; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where sorrow treads on joy, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where sweet things soonest cloy, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where faiths are built on dust, | 6 | ······ |
| Where love is half mistrust, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Hungry, and barren, and sharp as the sea,-- | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Oh! set us free. | 4 | ···· |
| Oh, let the false dream fly, | 6 | ······ |
| Where our sick souls do lie | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Tossing continually! | 7 | /˘˘/˘˘˘ |
| Oh, where thy voice doth come, | 6 | ······ |
| Let all doubts be dumb, | 5 | ····· |
| Let all words be mild, | 5 | ····· |
| All strifes be reconciled, | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| All pains beguiled! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Light bring no blindness, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Love no unkindness, | 5 | ····· |
| Knowledge no ruin, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Fear no undoing! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| From the cradle to the grave, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Save, oh! save. | 3 | ··· |
On this poem
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.