From Monte Pincio
Evening is coming, the sun waxes red,Radiant colors from heaven are beamingLife's lustrous longings in infinite streaming;--Glory in death o'er the mountains is spread.Cupolas burn, but the fog in far massesOver the bluish-black fields softly passes,Rolling as whilom oblivion pale;Hid is yon valley 'neath thousand years' veil.Evening so red and warmGlows as the people swarm,Notes of the cornet flare,Flowers and brown eyes fair.Great men of old stand in marble erected,Waiting, scarce known and neglected.
Vespers are ringing, through roseate airNebulous floating of tone-sacrifices,Twilight in churches now broadens and rises,Incense and word fill the evening with prayer.Over the Sabines the flame-belt is knotted,Shepherds' lights through the Campagna are dotted,Rome with her lamps dimly breaks on the sight,--Shadowy legend from history's night.But to the evening's spellDances the Saltarell';--Fireworks flash and play,Mora and laughter gay;--Colors and tones in all thoughts are enthroningHarmony's gracious condoning.
Lost has the light in its soundless affray,Heaven its vaulting of dark-blue is framing,Where from infinity deep stars are flaming,Earth's masses sink into vapor away.Fleeing the darkness, the eyes seek the city,Meet with its torches a corpse borne in pity;These seek the night, but a flag is each light,Waving the hope of eternity bright.Gaily to dance and wineMandolins give the sign.Monkish song, noise of streets,Drowned by a drum's stern beats;--Through all the dreaming life's arteries flowing,Glimpses of daylight are going.
Silence o'er all, and the darker blue skyWatches serenely expectant, 'mid cheeringDreams of the past and the future that's nearing:--Fluctuant gleams in the gray that is nigh.But they will gather, and Rome be resurgent,Day-dawn from Italy's midnight emergent:Cannon shall sound and the bells ring the new,Mem'ries illumine the future's bright blue!--Greeting a bridal pairCharming in hope so rare,Voices bring soft salute,Music of harp and flute.Mightier yearnings sweet sleep is beguiling;--Lesser dare waken to smiling.
Words in this poem 22
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- whilom adv.
- Formerly; once; of old; erewhile; at times. [AS. hwilum, properly, at times, dative pl. of hwil; akin to G. weiland formerly, OHG. hwilm, See While, n.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- roseate a.
- Full of roses; rosy; as, roseate bowers. [Cf. L. roseus, rosatus, prepared from roses. See Roseal, Rose.]
- campagna n.
- An open level tract of country; especially [It. See Campaing.]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- mora n.
- A game of guessing the number of fingers extended in a quick movement of the hand, -- much played by Italians of the lower classes. [It.]
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- monkish a.
- Like a monk, or pertaining to monks; monastic; as, monkish manners; monkish dress; monkish solitude.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- fluctuant a.
- Moving like a wave; wavering; (Med.) [L. fluctuans, p.pr. of fluctuare. See Fluctuate.]
- resurgent a.
- Rising again, as from the dead. Coleridge. [L. resurgens, -entis, p. pr. of resurgere. See Resurrection.]
- emergent a.
- Rising or emerging out of a fluid or anything that covers or conceals; issuing; coming to light. [L. emergens, p. pr. of emergere.]
- 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,]
- yearnings n.
- The maws, or stomachs, of young calves, used a rennet for curdling milk. [Cf. AS. geirnan, geyrnan, to rum. See 4th Earn.]
- beguiling a.
- Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting.
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From Monte Pincio is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, From Monte Pincio, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/from-monte-pincio.html, id L29255.
Form and metre
From Monte Pincio is 56 lines in 4 stanzas of 14 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBACCDDEEFFGG.
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 ABBACCDDEEFFGG redA · beamingB · streamingB · spreadA · massesC · passesC · paleD · veilD · warmE · swarmE · flareF · fairF · erectedG · neglectedG
- 2 ABBACCDDEEFFGG airA · sacrificesB · risesB · prayerA · knottedC · dottedC · sightD · nightD · spellE · saltarellE · playF · gayF · enthroningG · condoningG
- 3 ABBACCDDEEFFGG affrayA · framingB · flamingB · awayA · cityC · pityC · lightD · brightD · wineE · signE · streetsF · beatsF · flowingG · goingG
- 4 ABBACCDDEEFFGG skyA · cheeringB · nearingB · nighA · resurgentC · emergentC · newD · blueD · pairE · rareE · saluteF · fluteF · beguilingG · smilingG
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Evening is coming, the sun waxes red, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Radiant colors from heaven are beaming | 9 | /˘/˘·/·/˘ |
| Life's lustrous longings in infinite streaming;-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Glory in death o'er the mountains is spread. | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| Cupolas burn, but the fog in far masses | 11 | ˘/˘······/˘ |
| Over the bluish-black fields softly passes, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Rolling as whilom oblivion pale; | 9 | /˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| Hid is yon valley 'neath thousand years' veil. | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Evening so red and warm | 6 | /˘···· |
| Glows as the people swarm, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Notes of the cornet flare, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Flowers and brown eyes fair. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Great men of old stand in marble erected, | 11 | ······/˘˘/˘ |
| Waiting, scarce known and neglected. | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Vespers are ringing, through roseate air | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Nebulous floating of tone-sacrifices, | 10 | /˘/˘··/˘·˘ |
| Twilight in churches now broadens and rises, | 11 | /··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Incense and word fill the evening with prayer. | 10 | /·····/˘·· |
| Over the Sabines the flame-belt is knotted, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Shepherds' lights through the Campagna are dotted, | 11 | /˘···˘/˘·/˘ |
| Rome with her lamps dimly breaks on the sight,-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Shadowy legend from history's night. | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| But to the evening's spell | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Dances the Saltarell';-- | 6 | /˘···· |
| Fireworks flash and play, | 5 | /···· |
| Mora and laughter gay;-- | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Colors and tones in all thoughts are enthroning | 11 | /˘········· |
| Harmony's gracious condoning. | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Lost has the light in its soundless affray, | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| Heaven its vaulting of dark-blue is framing, | 10 | /·/˘····/˘ |
| Where from infinity deep stars are flaming, | 10 | ··˘/˘···/˘ |
| Earth's masses sink into vapor away. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| Fleeing the darkness, the eyes seek the city, | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Meet with its torches a corpse borne in pity; | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| These seek the night, but a flag is each light, | 10 | ·········· |
| Waving the hope of eternity bright. | 9 | /˘···˘/˘· |
| Gaily to dance and wine | 6 | /˘···· |
| Mandolins give the sign. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Monkish song, noise of streets, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Drowned by a drum's stern beats;-- | 6 | ······ |
| Through all the dreaming life's arteries flowing, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘/ |
| Glimpses of daylight are going. | 8 | /˘·/··/˘ |
| Silence o'er all, and the darker blue sky | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| Watches serenely expectant, 'mid cheering | 11 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| Dreams of the past and the future that's nearing:-- | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Fluctuant gleams in the gray that is nigh. | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| But they will gather, and Rome be resurgent, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Day-dawn from Italy's midnight emergent: | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘˘ |
| Cannon shall sound and the bells ring the new, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Mem'ries illumine the future's bright blue!-- | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Greeting a bridal pair | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Charming in hope so rare, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Voices bring soft salute, | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Music of harp and flute. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Mightier yearnings sweet sleep is beguiling;-- | 10 | /˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| Lesser dare waken to smiling. | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
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.