The World’s Triumphs
So far as I conceive the world’s rebukeTo him addressed who would recast her new,Not from herself her fame of strength she took,But from their weakness who would work her rue.
“Behold,” she cries, “so many rages lulled,So many fiery spirits quite cooled down;Look how so many valors, long undulled,After short commerce with me, fear my frown!
Thou too, when thou against my crimes wouldst cry,Let thy foreboded homage check thy tongue!”--The world speaks well; yet might her foe reply,“Are wills so weak? then let not mine wait long!
Hast thou so rare a poison? let me beKeener to slay thee, lest thou poison me!”
Words in this poem
- recast v. t.
- To throw again. Florio.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- keener n.
- A professional mourner who wails at a funeral. [Ireland]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The World’s Triumphs 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, The World’s Triumphs, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/the-world-s-triumphs.html, id L06952.
Form and metre
The World’s Triumphs is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 14% 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 -A-A rebuke · newA · took · rueA
- 2 ABAB lulledA · downB · undulledA · frownB
- 3 A-A- cryA · tongue · replyA · long
- 4 AA beA · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So far as I conceive the world’s rebuke | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| To him addressed who would recast her new, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Not from herself her fame of strength she took, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| But from their weakness who would work her rue. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| “Behold,” she cries, “so many rages lulled, | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| So many fiery spirits quite cooled down; | 10 | ·//˘˘/˘··· |
| Look how so many valors, long undulled, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| After short commerce with me, fear my frown! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou too, when thou against my crimes wouldst cry, | 10 | ·········· |
| Let thy foreboded homage check thy tongue!”-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| The world speaks well; yet might her foe reply, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| “Are wills so weak? then let not mine wait long! | 10 | ·········· |
| Hast thou so rare a poison? let me be | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Keener to slay thee, lest thou poison me!” | 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.