Ode
A coy inquisitive spirit, the spirit of wonder,Possesses the child in his cradle, when mortal thingsAre new, yet a varied surface and nothing under.It busies the mind on trifles and toys and bringsHer grasp from nearer to further, from smaller to greater,And slowly teaches flight to her fledgeling wings.
Where'er she flutters and falls surprises await her:She soars, and beauty's miracles open in sight,The flowers and trees and beasts of the earth ; and laterThe skies of day, the moon and the stars of night;'Neath which she scarcely venturing goes demurely,With mystery clad, in the awe of depth and height.
O happy for still unconscious, for ah ! how surely,How soon and surely will disenchantment come,When first to herself she boasts to walk securely,And drives the master spirit away from his home;
Seeing the marvellous things that make the morningAre marvels of every-day, familiar, and someHave lost with use, like earthly robes, their adorning,As earthly joys the charm of a first delight,And some are fallen from awe to neglect and scorning;Until--O tarry not long, dear needed sprite!Till thou, though uninvited, with fancy returnestTo hallow beauty and make the dull heart bright:To inhabit again thy gladdened kingdom in earnest;Wherein--from the smile of beauty afar forecastingThe pleasure of god, thou livest at peace and yearnestWith wonder everlasting.
Words in this poem
- fledgeling n.
- A young bird just fledged.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- demurely adv.
- In a demure manner; soberly; gravely; -- now, commonly, with a mere show of gravity or modesty.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- disenchantment n.
- The act of disenchanting, or state of being disenchanted. [Pref. dis- + enchantment: cf. F. désenchantement.]
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- hallow v. t.
- To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence. [OE. halowen, halwien, halgien, AS. halgian, fr. halig holy. See Holy.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
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.html, id L01722.
Form and metre
Ode is 30 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%). 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.0 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABABCB wonderA · thingsB · underA · bringsB · greaterC · wingsB
- 2 -DCDED her · sightD · laterC · nightD · demurelyE · heightD
- 3 EFE- surelyE · comeF · securelyE · home
- 4 GFGHG-HIHI-JIJ morningG · someF · adorningG · delightH · scorningG · until · spriteH · returnestI · brightH · earnestI · wherein · forecastingJ · yearnestI · everlastingJ
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A coy inquisitive spirit, the spirit of wonder, | 11 | ··˘/˘/·/·/˘ |
| Possesses the child in his cradle, when mortal things | 13 | ˘/˘····/˘·/˘· |
| Are new, yet a varied surface and nothing under. | 13 | ····/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| It busies the mind on trifles and toys and brings | 12 | ·/˘···/˘···· |
| Her grasp from nearer to further, from smaller to greater, | 14 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| And slowly teaches flight to her fledgeling wings. | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| Where'er she flutters and falls surprises await her: | 14 | ˘˘/·/˘··˘/˘˘/· |
| She soars, and beauty's miracles open in sight, | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘·· |
| The flowers and trees and beasts of the earth ; and later | 12 | ·/········/˘ |
| The skies of day, the moon and the stars of night; | 11 | ··········· |
| 'Neath which she scarcely venturing goes demurely, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| With mystery clad, in the awe of depth and height. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| O happy for still unconscious, for ah ! how surely, | 13 | ·/˘···/˘···/˘ |
| How soon and surely will disenchantment come, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| When first to herself she boasts to walk securely, | 12 | ···˘/····˘/˘ |
| And drives the master spirit away from his home; | 11 | ···/˘/˘/··· |
| Seeing the marvellous things that make the morning | 11 | /········/˘ |
| Are marvels of every-day, familiar, and some | 12 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/˘·· |
| Have lost with use, like earthly robes, their adorning, | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/˘ |
| As earthly joys the charm of a first delight, | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| And some are fallen from awe to neglect and scorning; | 13 | ···/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| Until-- | 2 | ·· |
| O tarry not long, dear needed sprite! | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Till thou, though uninvited, with fancy returnest | 13 | ····˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| To hallow beauty and make the dull heart bright: | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| To inhabit again thy gladdened kingdom in earnest; | 14 | ·˘/˘˘/·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Wherein-- | 2 | ·· |
| from the smile of beauty afar forecasting | 11 | ····/˘˘//·˘ |
| The pleasure of god, thou livest at peace and yearnest | 13 | ·/˘········/˘ |
| With wonder everlasting. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
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.