Oceanides
Gay and lovely is earth, man's decorate dwelling;With fresh beauty ever varying hour to hour.As now bathed in azure joy she awakenethWith bright morn to the sun's life-giving effluence,Or sunk into solemn darkness aneath the starsIn mysterious awe slumbereth out the night,Then from darkness again plunging again to day;Like dolphins in a swift herd that accompanyPoseidon's chariot when he rebukes the waves.But no country to me 'neath the enarching airIs fair as Sicily's flowery fruitful isle:Always lovely, whether winter adorn the hillsWith his silvery snow, or generous summerOutpour her heavy gold on the river-valleys.Her rare beauty giveth gaiety unto man,A delite dear to immortals.
And one season of all chiefly deliteth us,When fair Spring is afield. O happy is the Spring!Now birds early arouse their pretty minstreling;Now down its rocky hill murmureth ev'ry rill;Now all bursteth anew, wantoning in the dewTheir bells of bonny blue, their chalices honey'd.Unkind frost is away; now sunny is the day;Now man thinketh aright, Life it is all delite.Now maids playfully dance o'er enamel'd meadows,And with goldy blossom deck forehead and bosom;While old Pan rollicketh thro' the budding shadows,Voicing his merry reed, laughing aloud to leadThe echoes madly rejoicing.
We be Oceanids, Persephone's lovers,Who all came hurrying joyfully from the seaEre daybreak to obey her belovëd summons.At her fancy to pluck these violets, lilies,Windflow'rs and daffodils, all for a festivalWhereat shé will adorn Zeuses honour'd banner.And with Persephone there cometh ArtemisAnd grave Pallas ... Hilloo! Already they approach!Haste, haste! Stoop to gather! Seem busy ev'ryone!Crowd all your wicker arcs with the meadow-lilies;Lest our disreverenc'd deity should rebukeThe divine children of Ocean.
Words in this poem 16
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- effluence n.
- A flowing out, or emanation. [Cf. F. effluence.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- outpour n.
- A flowing out; a free discharge.
- afield adv.
- To, in, or on the field. [Pref. a- + field.]
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Oceanides 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, Oceanides, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/oceanides.html, id L01729.
Form and metre
Oceanides is 41 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.1 syllables. 17 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -----------A---A dwelling · hour · awakeneth · effluence · stars · night · day · accompany · waves · air · isle · hillsA · summer · valleys · man · immortalsA
- 2 -AA-----B-B-- us · springA · minstrelingA · rill · dew · honey'd · day · delite · meadowsB · bosom · shadowsB · lead · rejoicing
- 3 ---A-----A-- lovers · sea · summons · liliesA · festival · banner · artemis · approach · ev'ryone · liliesA · rebuke · ocean
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gay and lovely is earth, man's decorate dwelling; | 12 | ··/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| With fresh beauty ever varying hour to hour. | 10 | ··/˘//˘/·/ |
| As now bathed in azure joy she awakeneth | 11 | ····/˘··˘/˘ |
| With bright morn to the sun's life-giving effluence, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Or sunk into solemn darkness aneath the stars | 12 | ····/˘/˘˘/·· |
| In mysterious awe slumbereth out the night, | 10 | ·˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Then from darkness again plunging again to day; | 12 | ··/˘˘//˘˘/·· |
| Like dolphins in a swift herd that accompany | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Poseidon's chariot when he rebukes the waves. | 11 | ˘/˘/˘··˘/·· |
| But no country to me 'neath the enarching air | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Is fair as Sicily's flowery fruitful isle: | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Always lovely, whether winter adorn the hills | 12 | /˘/˘··/˘˘/·· |
| With his silvery snow, or generous summer | 11 | ··/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| Outpour her heavy gold on the river-valleys. | 12 | ·/·/˘···/˘/˘ |
| Her rare beauty giveth gaiety unto man, | 12 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘··· |
| A delite dear to immortals. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| And one season of all chiefly deliteth us, | 12 | ··/˘··/˘···· |
| When fair Spring is afield. O happy is the Spring! | 12 | ····˘/·/˘··· |
| Now birds early arouse their pretty minstreling; | 11 | ··/˘˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Now down its rocky hill murmureth ev'ry rill; | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| Now all bursteth anew, wantoning in the dew | 11 | ··/˘˘//˘··· |
| Their bells of bonny blue, their chalices honey'd. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Unkind frost is away; now sunny is the day; | 12 | ˘/··˘/·/˘··· |
| Now man thinketh aright, Life it is all delite. | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| Now maids playfully dance o'er enamel'd meadows, | 11 | ··/˘··˘/˘/· |
| And with goldy blossom deck forehead and bosom; | 12 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| While old Pan rollicketh thro' the budding shadows, | 12 | ········/˘/· |
| Voicing his merry reed, laughing aloud to lead | 12 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| The echoes madly rejoicing. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| We be Oceanids, Persephone's lovers, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Who all came hurrying joyfully from the sea | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Ere daybreak to obey her belovëd summons. | 11 | ·/··˘/···/˘ |
| At her fancy to pluck these violets, lilies, | 11 | ··/˘···/˘/˘ |
| Windflow'rs and daffodils, all for a festival | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Whereat shé will adorn Zeuses honour'd banner. | 13 | ˘///·˘//˘··/˘ |
| And with Persephone there cometh Artemis | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| And grave Pallas ... Hilloo! Already they approach! | 12 | ······˘/˘·˘/ |
| Haste, haste! Stoop to gather! Seem busy ev'ryone! | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Crowd all your wicker arcs with the meadow-lilies; | 12 | ···/˘···/·/˘ |
| Lest our disreverenc'd deity should rebuke | 11 | ·/····/˘·˘/ |
| The divine children of Ocean. | 8 | ·˘//˘·/˘ |
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