Persephone
Is not all as I promist? Feel ye notYour earthborn ecstasy concenter'd here?Tell me, Athena, of thy wisdom, whénceCometh this joy of earth, this penetrantPalpitant exultation so unlikeThe balanc't calm of high Olympian state?Is't in the air, the tinted atmosphereWhose gauzy veil, thrown on the hills, will paintTheir features, changing with the gradual day,Rosy or azure, clouded now, and nowAgain afire? Or is it that the sun'sElectric beams--which shot in circling fansWhirl all things with them--as they strike the earthExcite her yearning heart, till stir'd beneathThe rocks and silent plains, she cannot holdHer fond desires, but sends them bursting forthIn scents and colour'd blossoms of the spring?--Breathes it not in the flowers?
ATH. Fair are the flowers,Dear child; and yet to me far lovelierThan all their beauty is thy love for them.Whate'er I love, I contemplate my loveMore than the object, and am so rejoic'd.For life is one, and like a level seaLife's flood of joy. Thou wond'rest at the flowers,But I would teach thee wonder of thy wonder;Would shew thee beauty in the desert-sand,The worth of things unreckt of, and the truthThat thy desire and love may spring of evilAnd ugliness, and that Earth's ecstasyMay dwell in darkness also, in sorrow and tears.
PER. I'd not believe it: why then should we pluckThe flowers and not the stalks without the flowers?Or do thy stones breathe scent? Would not men laughTo see the banner of almighty ZeusAdorn'd with ragged roots and straws?--Dear Artemis,How lovest thou the flowers?
Words in this poem
- earthborn a.
- Born of the earth; terrigenous; springing originally from the earth; human.
- penetrant a.
- Having power to enter or pierce; penetrating; sharp; subtile; as, penetrant cold. [L. penetrans, p.pr. of penetrare: cf. F. pénétrant.]
- palpitant a.
- Palpitating; throbbing; trembling. Carlyle. [L. palpitans, p. pr.]
- gauzy a.
- Pertaining to, or resembling, gauze; thin and slight as gauze.
- contemplate v. t.
- To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. [L. contemplatus, p.p. of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple.]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- ugliness n.
- The quality or state of being ugly.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Persephone 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, Persephone, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/persephone.html, id L01730.
Form and metre
Persephone is 37 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 60% 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-B--AB---------- not · hereA · whénce · penetrantB · unlike · state · atmosphereA · paintB · day · now · sun's · fans · earth · beneath · hold · forth · spring · flowers
- 2 A-----A------ flowersA · lovelier · them · love · rejoic'd · sea · flowersA · wonder · sand · truth · evil · ecstasy · tears
- 3 -A---A pluck · flowersA · laugh · zeus · artemis · flowersA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Is not all as I promist? Feel ye not | 10 | ·········· |
| Your earthborn ecstasy concenter'd here? | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| Tell me, Athena, of thy wisdom, whénce | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Cometh this joy of earth, this penetrant | 10 | /˘·····/˘˘ |
| Palpitant exultation so unlike | 10 | /˘˘·····˘/ |
| The balanc't calm of high Olympian state? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Is't in the air, the tinted atmosphere | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Whose gauzy veil, thrown on the hills, will paint | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Their features, changing with the gradual day, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Rosy or azure, clouded now, and now | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Again afire? Or is it that the sun's | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Electric beams--which shot in circling fans | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Whirl all things with them--as they strike the earth | 10 | ·········· |
| Excite her yearning heart, till stir'd beneath | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| The rocks and silent plains, she cannot hold | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Her fond desires, but sends them bursting forth | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| In scents and colour'd blossoms of the spring?-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Breathes it not in the flowers? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ATH. Fair are the flowers, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Dear child; and yet to me far lovelier | 10 | ·········· |
| Than all their beauty is thy love for them. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whate'er I love, I contemplate my love | 11 | ˘˘/···/˘··· |
| More than the object, and am so rejoic'd. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| For life is one, and like a level sea | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Life's flood of joy. Thou wond'rest at the flowers, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But I would teach thee wonder of thy wonder; | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Would shew thee beauty in the desert-sand, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The worth of things unreckt of, and the truth | 10 | ·········· |
| That thy desire and love may spring of evil | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| And ugliness, and that Earth's ecstasy | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘ |
| May dwell in darkness also, in sorrow and tears. | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| PER. I'd not believe it: why then should we pluck | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| The flowers and not the stalks without the flowers? | 11 | ·/·······/˘ |
| Or do thy stones breathe scent? Would not men laugh | 10 | ·········· |
| To see the banner of almighty Zeus | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Adorn'd with ragged roots and straws?--Dear Artemis, | 12 | ˘/·/˘······· |
| How lovest thou the flowers? | 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.