Ulysses
Ever new magic!Hast thou then lured hither,Wonderful goddess, by thy art,The young, languid-eyed Ampelus,Iacchus’ darling,Or some youth beloved of Pan,Of Pan and the nymphs;That he sits, bending downwardHis white, delicate neckTo the ivy-wreathed margeOf thy cup; the bright, glancing vine-leavesThat crown his hair,Falling forward, minglingWith the dark ivy-plants;His fawn-skin, half untied,Smeared with red wine-stains? Who is he,That he sits, overweighedBy fumes of wine and sleep,So late, in thy portico?What youth, goddess,--what guestOf gods or mortals?
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ulysses 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, Ulysses, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/ulysses.html, id L06998.
Form and metre
Ulysses is 21 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ever new magic! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Hast thou then lured hither, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Wonderful goddess, by thy art, | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| The young, languid-eyed Ampelus, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Iacchus’ darling, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Or some youth beloved of Pan, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Of Pan and the nymphs; | 5 | ····· |
| That he sits, bending downward | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| His white, delicate neck | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| To the ivy-wreathed marge | 7 | ··/˘·˘· |
| Of thy cup; the bright, glancing vine-leaves | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That crown his hair, | 4 | ···· |
| Falling forward, mingling | 7 | /˘/˘/˘˘ |
| With the dark ivy-plants; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His fawn-skin, half untied, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Smeared with red wine-stains? Who is he, | 8 | ········ |
| That he sits, overweighed | 7 | ······˘ |
| By fumes of wine and sleep, | 6 | ······ |
| So late, in thy portico? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| What youth, goddess,--what guest | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Of gods or mortals? | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.