Poem VIII
Rejoice, ye dead, where'er your spirits dwell,Rejoice that yet on earth your fame is bright,And that your names, remember'd day and night,Live on the lips of those who love you well.'Tis ye that conquer'd have the powers of HellEach with the special grace of your delight;Ye are the world's creators, and by mightAlone of Heavenly love ye did excel.
Now ye are starry namesBehind the sun ye climbTo light the glooms of TimeWith deathless flames.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- 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
Poem VIII 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, Poem VIII, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/poem-viii.html, id L01840.
Form and metre
Poem VIII is 12 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 42% 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 ABBAABBA dwellA · brightB · nightB · wellA · hellA · delightB · mightB · excelA
- 2 ABBA namesA · climbB · timeB · flamesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rejoice, ye dead, where'er your spirits dwell, | 11 | ˘/··˘˘/·/˘· |
| Rejoice that yet on earth your fame is bright, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And that your names, remember'd day and night, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Live on the lips of those who love you well. | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Tis ye that conquer'd have the powers of Hell | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Each with the special grace of your delight; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Ye are the world's creators, and by might | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Alone of Heavenly love ye did excel. | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Now ye are starry names | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Behind the sun ye climb | 6 | ······ |
| To light the glooms of Time | 6 | ······ |
| With deathless flames. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.