Fourth of June at Eton
Beneath the wattled bank the eddies swarmIn wandering dimples o'er the shady pool:The same their chase as when I was at school;The same the music, where in shallows warmThe current, sunder'd by the bushy isles,Returns to join the main, and struggles freeAbove the willows, gurgling thro' the piles:Nothing is changed, and yet how changed are we!--What can bring Godfrey to the Muses' bower?
For Fancy cannot live on real food:In youth she will despise familiar joyTo dwell in mournful shades; as they grow real,Then buildeth she of joy her far ideal.
And so perverteth all. This stream to meSings, and in sunny ripples lingeringlyThe water saith 'Ah me! where have I lept?Into what garden of life? what banks are these,What secret lawns, what ancient towers and trees?Where the young sons of heav'n, with shouts of playOr low delighted speech, welcome the day,As if the poetry of the earth had sleptTo wake in ecstasy. O stay me! alas!Stay me, ye happy isles, ere that I passWithout a memory on my sullen courseBy the black city to the tossing seas!'
So might this old oak say 'My heart is sere;With greater effort every year I forceMy stubborn leafage: soon my branch will crack,And I shall fall or perish in the wrack:And here another tree its crown will rear,And see for centuries the boys at play:And 'neath its boughs, on some fine holiday,Old men shall prate as these.' Come see the game.
Words in this poem
- wattled a.
- Furnished with wattles, or pendent fleshy processes at the chin or throat.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- lingeringly adv.
- With delay; slowly; tediously.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- delighted a.
- Endowed with delight.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- leafage n.
- Leaves, collectively; foliage.
- 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,]
- wrack n.
- Wreck; ruin; destruction. [OE. wrak wreck. See Wreck.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fourth of June at Eton 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, Fourth of June at Eton, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/fourth-of-june-at-eton.html, id L26308.
Form and metre
Fourth of June at Eton is 33 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBACDCD- swarmA · poolB · schoolB · warmA · islesC · freeD · pilesC · weD · bower
- 2 --AA food · joy · realA · idealA
- 3 --ABBCCADD-B me · lingeringly · leptA · theseB · treesB · playC · dayC · sleptA · alasD · passD · course · seasB
- 4 A-BBACC- sereA · force · crackB · wrackB · rearA · playC · holidayC · game
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Beneath the wattled bank the eddies swarm | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In wandering dimples o'er the shady pool: | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The same their chase as when I was at school; | 10 | ·········· |
| The same the music, where in shallows warm | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The current, sunder'd by the bushy isles, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Returns to join the main, and struggles free | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Above the willows, gurgling thro' the piles: | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Nothing is changed, and yet how changed are we! | 10 | /˘········ |
| --What can bring Godfrey to the Muses' bower? | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| For Fancy cannot live on real food: | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| In youth she will despise familiar joy | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| To dwell in mournful shades; as they grow real, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Then buildeth she of joy her far ideal. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And so perverteth all. This stream to me | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| Sings, and in sunny ripples lingeringly | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘˘ |
| The water saith 'Ah me! where have I lept? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Into what garden of life? what banks are these, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| What secret lawns, what ancient towers and trees? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/·· |
| Where the young sons of heav'n, with shouts of play | 10 | ·········· |
| Or low delighted speech, welcome the day, | 10 | ··˘/˘·/˘·· |
| As if the poetry of the earth had slept | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To wake in ecstasy. O stay me! alas! | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Stay me, ye happy isles, ere that I pass | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Without a memory on my sullen course | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By the black city to the tossing seas!' | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| So might this old oak say 'My heart is sere; | 10 | ·········· |
| With greater effort every year I force | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| My stubborn leafage: soon my branch will crack, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And I shall fall or perish in the wrack: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And here another tree its crown will rear, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And see for centuries the boys at play: | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| And 'neath its boughs, on some fine holiday, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Old men shall prate as these.' Come see the game. | 10 | ·········· |
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.