Amiel
Why, O Maker of all, madest thou man with affectionsTender above thyself, scrupulous and passionate?Nay, if compassionate thou art, why, thou lover of men,Hidest thou thy face so pitilessly from us?If thou in priesthoods and altar-glory delitest,In torment and tears of trouble and suffering,Then wert thou displeas'd looking on soft human emotion,Thou must scorn the devout love of a sire to a son.'Twas but vainly of old, Man, making Faith to approach thee,Held an imagin'd scheme of providence in honour;And, to redeem thy praise, judg'd himself cause, took upon himHumbly the impossible burden of all misery.Now casteth he away his books and logical idolsLeaveth again his cell of terrified penitence;And that stony goddess, his first-born fancy, dethroning,Hath made after his own homelier art another;Made sweet Hope, the modest unportion'd daughter of anguish,Whose brimming eye sees but dimly what it looketh on;Dreaming a day when fully, without curse or horrible cross,Thou wilt deign to reveal her vision of happiness.
Ah, what a change! Thou, who didst emptily thy happiness seekIn pleasure, art finding thy pleasure in happiness.Slave to the soul, whom thou heldest in slavery, art thou?Thou, that wert but a vain idol, adored a goddess?
Words in this poem
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amiel 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, Amiel, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/amiel.html, id L01852.
Form and metre
Amiel is 24 lines in 2 stanzas. 75% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.0 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 --A---AA----------BB affections · passionate · menA · us · delitest · suffering · emotionA · sonA · thee · honour · him · misery · idols · penitence · dethroning · another · anguish · on · crossB · happinessB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why, O Maker of all, madest thou man with affections | 14 | ··/˘·······˘/˘ |
| Tender above thyself, scrupulous and passionate? | 11 | /˘··˘//˘·/˘ |
| Nay, if compassionate thou art, why, thou lover of men, | 13 | ··˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Hidest thou thy face so pitilessly from us? | 12 | ············ |
| If thou in priesthoods and altar-glory delitest, | 13 | ···/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| In torment and tears of trouble and suffering, | 11 | ·˘/···/˘·/˘ |
| Then wert thou displeas'd looking on soft human emotion, | 14 | ···˘//˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Thou must scorn the devout love of a sire to a son. | 13 | ····˘/···/··· |
| 'Twas but vainly of old, Man, making Faith to approach thee, | 14 | ··/˘···/˘··˘/· |
| Held an imagin'd scheme of providence in honour; | 12 | ··˘/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| And, to redeem thy praise, judg'd himself cause, took upon him | 14 | ··˘/···˘/····· |
| Humbly the impossible burden of all misery. | 12 | /˘·˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Now casteth he away his books and logical idols | 13 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Leaveth again his cell of terrified penitence; | 13 | /˘˘/···/˘·/˘˘ |
| And that stony goddess, his first-born fancy, dethroning, | 14 | ··/˘/˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| Hath made after his own homelier art another; | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| Made sweet Hope, the modest unportion'd daughter of anguish, | 14 | ····/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| Whose brimming eye sees but dimly what it looketh on; | 13 | ·/˘···/˘··/˘· |
| Dreaming a day when fully, without curse or horrible cross, | 14 | /˘···/˘····/˘· |
| Thou wilt deign to reveal her vision of happiness. | 12 | ····˘/·/˘·/˘ |
| Ah, what a change! Thou, who didst emptily thy happiness seek | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| In pleasure, art finding thy pleasure in happiness. | 12 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Slave to the soul, whom thou heldest in slavery, art thou? | 13 | ······/˘·/˘·· |
| Thou, that wert but a vain idol, adored a goddess? | 13 | ······/˘˘/·/˘ |
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.