Ode to Peace IV. 3
On Cuba's utmost steep,Far leaning o'er the deep,The Goddess' pensive form was seen.Her robe of Nature's varied greenWaved on the gale; grief dimm'd her radiant eyes,Her swelling bosom heaved with boding sighs:She eyed the main; where, gaining on the view.Emerging from the ethereal blue,'Midst the dread pomp of warGleam'd the Iberian streamer from afar.She saw; and, on refulgent pinions borne,Slow wing'd her way sublime, and mingled with the morn.
Words in this poem
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
- iberian a.
- Of or pertaining to Iberia.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- refulgent a.
- Casting a bright light; radiant; brilliant; resplendent; shining; splendid; as, refulgent beams. [L. refulgens, p. pr. of refulgere to flash back, to shine bright; pref. re- re- + fulgere to shine. See Fulgent.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode to Peace IV. 3 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #8695; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Beattie, Ode to Peace IV. 3, in The Minstrel and Other Poems (1771–1774), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/beattie-minstrel/ode-to-peace-iv-3.html, id L09601.
Form and metre
Ode to Peace IV. 3 is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFF steepA · deepA · seenB · greenB · eyesC · sighsC · viewD · blueD · warE · afarE · borneF · mornF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| On Cuba's utmost steep, | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| Far leaning o'er the deep, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The Goddess' pensive form was seen. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Her robe of Nature's varied green | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Waved on the gale; grief dimm'd her radiant eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Her swelling bosom heaved with boding sighs: | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| She eyed the main; where, gaining on the view. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Emerging from the ethereal blue, | 10 | /˘˘··˘/˘˘· |
| 'Midst the dread pomp of war | 6 | ······ |
| Gleam'd the Iberian streamer from afar. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| She saw; and, on refulgent pinions borne, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Slow wing'd her way sublime, and mingled with the morn. | 12 | ····˘/·/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 1
Beattie's own notes to The Minstrel (Project Gutenberg #8695).
- Line 1 This alludes to the discovery of America by the Spaniards under Columbus. These ravagers are said to have made their first descent on the islands in the Gulf of Florida, of which Cuba is one.
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.