Dirge
Man born of desireCometh out of the night,A wandering spark of fire,A lonely word of eternal thoughtEchoing in chance and forgot.
He seeth the sun,He calleth the stars by name,He saluteth the flowers.--Wonders of land and sea,The mountain towersOf ice and airHe seeth, and calleth them fair:Then he hideth his face;--Whence he came to pass awayWhere all is forgot,Unmade--lost for ayeWith the things that are not.
He striveth to know,To unravel the MindThat veileth in horror:He wills to adore.In wisdom he walkethAnd loveth his kind;His labouring breathWould keep evermore:Then he hideth his face;--Whence he came to pass awayWhere all is forgot,Unmade--lost for ayeWith the things that are not.
He dreameth of beauty,He seeks to createFairer and fairerTo vanquish his Fate;No hindrance he--No curse will brook,He maketh a lawNo ill shall be:Then he hideth his face;--Whence he came to pass awayWhere all is forgot,Unmade--lost for ayeWith the things that are not.
Words in this poem
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dirge 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, Dirge, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/dirge.html, id L01839.
Form and metre
Dirge is 43 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.7 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 37% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A-- desireA · night · fireA · thought · forgot
- 2 --A-ABB--C-C sun · name · flowersA · sea · towersA · airB · fairB · face · away · forgotC · aye · notC
- 3 -A-BCACB--D-D know · mindA · horror · adoreB · walkethC · kindA · breathC · evermoreB · face · away · forgotD · aye · notD
- 4 -A-AB--B--CBC beauty · createA · fairer · fateA · heB · brook · law · beB · face · away · forgotC · ayeB · notC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Man born of desire | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Cometh out of the night, | 6 | /˘···· |
| A wandering spark of fire, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| A lonely word of eternal thought | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| Echoing in chance and forgot. | 8 | /˘˘···˘/ |
| He seeth the sun, | 4 | ···· |
| He calleth the stars by name, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He saluteth the flowers.-- | 7 | ·˘/˘·/˘ |
| Wonders of land and sea, | 6 | /˘···· |
| The mountain towers | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Of ice and air | 4 | ···· |
| He seeth, and calleth them fair: | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Then he hideth his face;-- | 6 | ······ |
| Whence he came to pass away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Where all is forgot, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Unmade--lost for aye | 5 | ˘/··· |
| With the things that are not. | 6 | ······ |
| He striveth to know, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| To unravel the Mind | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| That veileth in horror: | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| He wills to adore. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| In wisdom he walketh | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And loveth his kind; | 5 | ····· |
| His labouring breath | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Would keep evermore: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Then he hideth his face;-- | 6 | ······ |
| Whence he came to pass away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Where all is forgot, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Unmade--lost for aye | 5 | ˘/··· |
| With the things that are not. | 6 | ······ |
| He dreameth of beauty, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| He seeks to create | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Fairer and fairer | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| To vanquish his Fate; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| No hindrance he-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| No curse will brook, | 4 | ···· |
| He maketh a law | 5 | ····· |
| No ill shall be: | 4 | ···· |
| Then he hideth his face;-- | 6 | ······ |
| Whence he came to pass away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Where all is forgot, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Unmade--lost for aye | 5 | ˘/··· |
| With the things that are not. | 6 | ······ |
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.