Winged Man
The moon, a sweeping scimitar, dipped in the stormy straits,The dawn, a crimson cataract, burst through the eastern gates,The cliffs were robed in scarlet, the sands were cinnabar,Where first two men spread wings for flight and dared the hawk afar.
There stands the cunning workman, the crafty past all praise,The man who chained the Minotaur, the man who built the Maze.His young son is beside him and the boy's face is a light,A light of dawn and wonder and of valor infinite.
Their great vans beat the cloven air, like eagles they mount up,Motes in the wine of morning, specks in a crystal cup,And lest his wings should melt apace old Daedalus flies low,But Icarus beats up, beats up, he goes where lightnings go.
He cares no more for warnings, he rushes through the sky,Braving the crags of ether, daring the gods on high,Black 'gainst the crimson sunset, golden o'er cloudy snows,With all Adventure in his heart the first winged man arose.
Dropping gold, dropping gold, where the mists of morning rolled,On he kept his way undaunted, though his breaths were stabs of cold,Through the mystery of dawning that no mortal may behold.
Now he shouts, now he sings in the rapture of his wings,And his great heart burns intenser with the strength of his desire,As he circles like a swallow, wheeling, flaming, gyre on gyre.
Gazing straight at the sun, half his pilgrimage is done,And he staggers for a moment, hurries on, reels backward, swervesIn a rain of scattered feathers as he falls in broken curves.
Icarus, Icarus, though the end is piteous,Yet forever, yea, forever we shall see thee rising thus,See the first supernal glory, not the ruin hideous.
You were Man, you who ran farther than our eyes can scan,Man absurd, gigantic, eager for impossible Romance,Overthrowing all Hell's legions with one warped and broken lance.
On the highest steeps of Space he will have his dwelling-place,In those far, terrific regions where the cold comes down like DeathGleams the red glint of his pinions, smokes the vapor of his breath.
Floating downward, very clear, still the echoes reach the earOf a little tune he whistles and a little song he sings,Mounting, mounting still, triumphant, on his torn and broken wings!
Words in this poem 15
- scimitar n.
- A saber with a much curved blade having the edge on the convex side, -- in use among Mohammedans, esp., the Arabs and persians. [F. cimeterre, cf. It. scimitarra, Sp. cimitarra; fr. Biscayan cimetarry with a sharp edge; or corrupted from Per. shimshir.]
- 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.]
- minotaur n.
- A fabled monster, half man and half bull, confined in the labyrinth constructed by Dædalus in Crete. [L. Minotaurus, Gr. Mi`nos, the husband of Pasiphaë + tay^ros a bull, the Minotaur being the offspring of Pasiphaë and a bull: cf. F. minotaure.]
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- braving n.
- A bravado; a boast.
- undaunted a.
- Not daunted; not subdued or depressed by fear.
- wheeling n.
- The act of conveying anything, or traveling, on wheels, or in a wheeled vehicle.
- gyre v. t.
- To turn round; to gyrate. Bp. Hall. Drayton. [Cf. OF. gyrer, girer. See Gyrate.]
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
- hurries n.
- A staith or framework from which coal is discharged from cars into vessels.
- 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,]
- supernal a.
- Being in a higher place or region; locally higher; as, the supernal orbs; supernal regions. [L. supernus, from super above: cf. F. supernel. See Super-.]
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- glint n.
- A glimpse, glance, or gleam. [OE. glent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Winged Man is in the public domain. This text is taken from Young Adventure: A Book of Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #312; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Stephen Vincent Benét, Winged Man, in Young Adventure (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #312, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/benet-young-adventure/winged-man.html, id L13399.
Form and metre
Winged Man is 37 lines in 11 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB straitsA · gatesA · cinnabarB · afarB
- 2 AABB praiseA · mazeA · lightB · infiniteB
- 3 AABB upA · cupA · lowB · goB
- 4 AABB skyA · highA · snowsB · aroseB
- 5 AAA rolledA · coldA · beholdA
- 7 -AA done · swervesA · curvesA
- 8 AAA piteousA · thusA · hideousA
- 9 -AA scan · romanceA · lanceA
- 10 -AA place · deathA · breathA
- 11 -AA ear · singsA · wingsA
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The moon, a sweeping scimitar, dipped in the stormy straits, | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| The dawn, a crimson cataract, burst through the eastern gates, | 13 | ···/˘/˘···/˘· |
| The cliffs were robed in scarlet, the sands were cinnabar, | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| Where first two men spread wings for flight and dared the hawk afar. | 14 | ············˘/ |
| There stands the cunning workman, the crafty past all praise, | 13 | ···/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| The man who chained the Minotaur, the man who built the Maze. | 14 | ·····/˘˘······ |
| His young son is beside him and the boy's face is a light, | 14 | ····˘/········ |
| A light of dawn and wonder and of valor infinite. | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Their great vans beat the cloven air, like eagles they mount up, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Motes in the wine of morning, specks in a crystal cup, | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| And lest his wings should melt apace old Daedalus flies low, | 13 | ······˘/·/˘·· |
| But Icarus beats up, beats up, he goes where lightnings go. | 14 | ·/·˘·······/˘· |
| He cares no more for warnings, he rushes through the sky, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| Braving the crags of ether, daring the gods on high, | 13 | /˘···/˘/˘···· |
| Black 'gainst the crimson sunset, golden o'er cloudy snows, | 13 | ···/˘/·/˘·/˘· |
| With all Adventure in his heart the first winged man arose. | 14 | ··˘/˘·······˘/ |
| Dropping gold, dropping gold, where the mists of morning rolled, | 13 | /˘·/˘·····/˘· |
| On he kept his way undaunted, though his breaths were stabs of cold, | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| Through the mystery of dawning that no mortal may behold. | 14 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Now he shouts, now he sings in the rapture of his wings, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| And his great heart burns intenser with the strength of his desire, | 15 | ·············˘/ |
| As he circles like a swallow, wheeling, flaming, gyre on gyre. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Gazing straight at the sun, half his pilgrimage is done, | 12 | /˘······/˘·· |
| And he staggers for a moment, hurries on, reels backward, swerves | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘··/˘· |
| In a rain of scattered feathers as he falls in broken curves. | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Icarus, Icarus, though the end is piteous, | 13 | /·˘/·˘····/˘˘ |
| Yet forever, yea, forever we shall see thee rising thus, | 15 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘····/˘· |
| See the first supernal glory, not the ruin hideous. | 13 | ···˘/˘/˘··//˘ |
| You were Man, you who ran farther than our eyes can scan, | 13 | ······/˘·/··· |
| Man absurd, gigantic, eager for impossible Romance, | 14 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Overthrowing all Hell's legions with one warped and broken lance. | 15 | /˘·˘··/˘····/˘· |
| On the highest steeps of Space he will have his dwelling-place, | 14 | ··/˘·······/˘· |
| In those far, terrific regions where the cold comes down like Death | 15 | ···˘/˘/˘······· |
| Gleams the red glint of his pinions, smokes the vapor of his breath. | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Floating downward, very clear, still the echoes reach the ear | 13 | /˘//˘···/˘··· |
| Of a little tune he whistles and a little song he sings, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Mounting, mounting still, triumphant, on his torn and broken wings! | 15 | /˘/˘·˘/˘····/˘· |
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.