A Passer-By
Whither, O splendid ship, thy white sails crowding,Leaning across the bosom of the urgent West,That fearest nor sea rising, nor sky clouding,Whither away, fair rover, and what thy quest?Ah! soon, when Winter has all our vales opprest,When skies are cold and misty, and hail is hurling,Wilt thóu glíde on the blue Pacific, or restIn a summer haven asleep, thy white sails furling.
I there before thee, in the country that well thou knowest,Already arrived am inhaling the odorous air:I watch thee enter unerringly where thou goest,And anchor queen of the strange shipping there,Thy sails for awnings spread, thy masts bare;Nor is aught from the foaming reef to the snow-capped, grandestPeak, that is over the feathery palms more fairThan thou, so upright, so stately, and still thou standest.
And yet, O splendid ship, unhailed and nameless,I know not if, aiming a fancy, I rightly divineThat thou hast a purpose joyful, a courage blameless,Thy port assured in a happier land than mine.But for all I have given thee, beauty enough is thine,As thou, aslant with trim tackle and shrouding,From the proud nostril curve of a prow's lineIn the offing scatterest foam, thy white sails crowding.
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- clouding n.
- A mottled appearance given to ribbons and silks in the process of dyeing.
- rover n.
- One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
- unerringly adv.
- In an unerring manner.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- rightly adv.
- Straightly; directly; in front. [AS. richtlice.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- aslant adv.
- Toward one side; in a slanting direction; obliquely. [Pref. a- + slant.]
- shrouding n.
- The shrouds. See Shroud, n., 7.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Passer-By is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Excluding the Eight Dramas, Project Gutenberg ebook #37804; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bridges, A Passer-By, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/a-passer-by.html, id L01753.
Form and metre
A Passer-By is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCBC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%). 74% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.8 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABABBCBC crowdingA · westB · cloudingA · questB · opprestB · hurlingC · restB · furlingC
- 2 ABABBAB- knowestA · airB · goestA · thereB · bareB · grandestA · fairB · standest
- 3 ABABBCBC namelessA · divineB · blamelessA · mineB · thineB · shroudingC · lineB · crowdingC
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Whither, O splendid ship, thy white sails crowding, | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Leaning across the bosom of the urgent West, | 12 | /˘˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| That fearest nor sea rising, nor sky clouding, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Whither away, fair rover, and what thy quest? | 11 | /˘˘/·/˘···· |
| Ah! soon, when Winter has all our vales opprest, | 11 | ···/˘··/·/˘ |
| When skies are cold and misty, and hail is hurling, | 12 | ·····/˘···/˘ |
| Wilt thóu glíde on the blue Pacific, or rest | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| In a summer haven asleep, thy white sails furling. | 13 | ··/˘/˘˘/····· |
| I there before thee, in the country that well thou knowest, | 14 | ·······/˘···/˘ |
| Already arrived am inhaling the odorous air: | 13 | ˘/˘˘/·˘/˘·/˘· |
| I watch thee enter unerringly where thou goest, | 12 | ···/˘˘/˘˘··· |
| And anchor queen of the strange shipping there, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thy sails for awnings spread, thy masts bare; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Nor is aught from the foaming reef to the snow-capped, grandest | 14 | ·····/˘·····/˘ |
| Peak, that is over the feathery palms more fair | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Than thou, so upright, so stately, and still thou standest. | 13 | ···˘/·/˘···/˘ |
| And yet, O splendid ship, unhailed and nameless, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| I know not if, aiming a fancy, I rightly divine | 14 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| That thou hast a purpose joyful, a courage blameless, | 13 | ····/˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Thy port assured in a happier land than mine. | 11 | ··˘/··/˘··· |
| But for all I have given thee, beauty enough is thine, | 13 | ·····/·/˘˘/·· |
| As thou, aslant with trim tackle and shrouding, | 11 | ··˘/··/˘·/˘ |
| From the proud nostril curve of a prow's line | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In the offing scatterest foam, thy white sails crowding. | 12 | ··/˘/˘····/˘ |
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.