Ode
My soul is drunk with joy, her new desireIn far forbidden places wanders away.Her hopes with free bright-coloured wings of fireUpon the gloom of thoughtAre sailing out.Awhile they rise, awhile to rest they softly fall,Like butterflies, that flitAcross the mountains, or upon a wallWinking their idle fans at pleasure sit.
O my vague desires!Ye lambent flames of the soul, her offspring fires:That are my soul herself in pangs sublimeRising and flying to heaven before her time:What doth tempt you forthTo melt in the south or shiver in the frosty north?What seek ye or find ye in your random flying,For ever soaring aloft, soaring and dying?Joy, the joy of flight;They hide in the sun, they flare and dance in the night.Gone up, gone out of sight--and ever againFollow fresh tongues of fire, fresh pangs of pain.Ah! could I controlThese vague desires, these leaping flames of the soul:Could I but quench the fire, ah! could I stayMy soul that flieth, alas, and dieth away!
Part of CHOR. Here is wood to feed the fire--Never let its flames expire.Sing ye still while we advanceRound the fire in measured dance,While the sun in heaven descendingSees our happy feast have ending.Weave ye still your joyous song,While we bear the wood along.
SEMICHORUS. But O return,Return, thou flower of the gods!Remember the limbs that toil and the hearts that yearn,Remember, and soon return!To prosper with peace and skillOur hands in the works of pleasure, beauty and use.Return, and be for us stillOur shield from the anger of Zeus.And he, if he raise his arm in anger to smite thee,And think for the good thou hast done with pain to requite thee,Vengeance I heard thee tell,And the curse I take for my own,That his place is prepared in hell,And a greater than he shall hurl him down from his throneDown, down from his throne!For the god who shall rule mankind from the deathless skiesBy mercy and truth shall be known,In love and peace shall arise.For him,--if again I hear him thunder above,O then, if I crouch or start,I will press thy lovingkindness more to my heart,Remember the words of thy mouth rare and precious,Thy heart of hearts and gifts of divine love.
Words in this poem
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- lambent a.
- Playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over. [L. lambens, -enlis, p. pr. of lambere to lick; akin to lap. See Lap to drink by licking.]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- semichorus n.
- A half chorus; a passage to be sung by a selected portion of the voices, as the female voices only, in contrast with the full choir.
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
- prosper v. t.
- To favor; to render successful. [F. prospérer v. i., or L. prosperare, v. i., or L. prosperare, v. t., fr. prosper or prosperus. See Prosperous.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode 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, Ode, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/ode-2.html, id L01726.
Form and metre
Ode is 56 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 9 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 heroic couplets, 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--BCBC desireA · away · fireA · thought · out · fallB · flitC · wallB · sitC
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH desiresA · firesA · sublimeB · timeB · forthC · northC · flyingD · dyingD · flightE · nightE · againF · painF · controlG · soulG · stayH · awayH
- 3 AABBCCDD fireA · expireA · advanceB · danceB · descendingC · endingC · songD · alongD
- 4 A-AABCBCDDEFEFFGFGHII-H returnA · gods · yearnA · returnA · skillB · useC · stillB · zeusC · theeD · theeD · tellE · ownF · hellE · throneF · throneF · skiesG · knownF · ariseG · aboveH · startI · heartI · precious · loveH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My soul is drunk with joy, her new desire | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| In far forbidden places wanders away. | 10 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| Her hopes with free bright-coloured wings of fire | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Upon the gloom of thought | 6 | ······ |
| Are sailing out. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Awhile they rise, awhile to rest they softly fall, | 12 | ˘/··˘/···/˘· |
| Like butterflies, that flit | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Across the mountains, or upon a wall | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Winking their idle fans at pleasure sit. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| O my vague desires! | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Ye lambent flames of the soul, her offspring fires: | 11 | ·/˘·····/·/ |
| That are my soul herself in pangs sublime | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Rising and flying to heaven before her time: | 11 | /˘·/˘·/···· |
| What doth tempt you forth | 5 | ····· |
| To melt in the south or shiver in the frosty north? | 13 | ······/˘··/˘· |
| What seek ye or find ye in your random flying, | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| For ever soaring aloft, soaring and dying? | 11 | ·//˘˘//˘·/˘ |
| Joy, the joy of flight; | 5 | ····· |
| They hide in the sun, they flare and dance in the night. | 12 | ············ |
| Gone up, gone out of sight--and ever again | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Follow fresh tongues of fire, fresh pangs of pain. | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| Ah! could I control | 5 | ···˘/ |
| These vague desires, these leaping flames of the soul: | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| Could I but quench the fire, ah! could I stay | 10 | ·····/···· |
| My soul that flieth, alas, and dieth away! | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Part of CHOR. Here is wood to feed the fire-- | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Never let its flames expire. | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Sing ye still while we advance | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Round the fire in measured dance, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘˘· |
| While the sun in heaven descending | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Sees our happy feast have ending. | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Weave ye still your joyous song, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| While we bear the wood along. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| SEMICHORUS. But O return, | 7 | /˘˘··˘/ |
| Return, thou flower of the gods! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Remember the limbs that toil and the hearts that yearn, | 12 | ˘/˘········· |
| Remember, and soon return! | 7 | ˘/˘··˘/ |
| To prosper with peace and skill | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Our hands in the works of pleasure, beauty and use. | 12 | /·····/˘/˘·· |
| Return, and be for us still | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Our shield from the anger of Zeus. | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| And he, if he raise his arm in anger to smite thee, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| And think for the good thou hast done with pain to requite thee, | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Vengeance I heard thee tell, | 6 | /˘···· |
| And the curse I take for my own, | 8 | ········ |
| That his place is prepared in hell, | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| And a greater than he shall hurl him down from his throne | 13 | ··/˘········· |
| Down, down from his throne! | 5 | ····· |
| For the god who shall rule mankind from the deathless skies | 13 | ······//··/˘· |
| By mercy and truth shall be known, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In love and peace shall arise. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| For him,--if again I hear him thunder above, | 12 | ···˘/···/˘·· |
| O then, if I crouch or start, | 7 | ······· |
| I will press thy lovingkindness more to my heart, | 11 | ····/˘˘···· |
| Remember the words of thy mouth rare and precious, | 12 | ˘/˘·······/˘ |
| Thy heart of hearts and gifts of divine love. | 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.