Scazons
Since I believe in God the Father Almighty,Man's Maker and Judge, Overruler of Fortune,'Twere strange should I praise anything and refuse Him praise,Should love the creature forgetting the Crēator,Nor unto Himvin suff'ring and sorrow turn me:Nay how coud I withdraw me fromvHis embracing?
But since that I have seen not, and cannot know Him,Nor in my earthly temple apprehend rightlyHis wisdom and the heav'nly purpose ēternal;Therefore will I be bound to no studied systemNor argument, nor with delusion enslave me,Nor seek to pléase Him in any foolish invention,Which my spirit within me, that loveth beautyAnd hateth evil, hath reprov'd as unworthy:
But I cherish my freedom in loving service,Gratefully adoring for delight beyond askingOr thinking, and in hours of anguish and darknessConfiding always onvHis excellent greatness.
Words in this poem
- overruler n.
- One who, or that which, controls, governs, or determines. Sir P. Sidney.
- rightly adv.
- Straightly; directly; in front. [AS. richtlice.]
- confiding a.
- That confides; trustful; unsuspicious.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Scazons 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, Scazons, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/scazons.html, id L01850.
Form and metre
Scazons is 18 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.8 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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.
- 2 A--A---- himA · rightly · ēternal · systemA · me · invention · beauty · unworthy
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since I believe in God the Father Almighty, | 12 | ··˘/···/˘˘/˘ |
| Man's Maker and Judge, Overruler of Fortune, | 12 | ·/˘·······/˘ |
| 'Twere strange should I praise anything and refuse Him praise, | 13 | ·····/˘··/··· |
| Should love the creature forgetting the Crēator, | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘··· |
| Nor unto Himvin suff'ring and sorrow turn me: | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Nay how coud I withdraw me fromvHis embracing? | 12 | ····˘/···˘/˘ |
| But since that I have seen not, and cannot know Him, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Nor in my earthly temple apprehend rightly | 12 | ···/˘/˘·˘//˘ |
| His wisdom and the heav'nly purpose ēternal; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Therefore will I be bound to no studied system | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Nor argument, nor with delusion enslave me, | 11 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘/· |
| Nor seek to pléase Him in any foolish invention, | 13 | ······/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Which my spirit within me, that loveth beauty | 11 | ··/······/˘ |
| And hateth evil, hath reprov'd as unworthy: | 11 | ···/····˘/˘ |
| But I cherish my freedom in loving service, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Gratefully adoring for delight beyond asking | 12 | /˘˘/˘·˘/··/˘ |
| Or thinking, and in hours of anguish and darkness | 12 | ·/˘··/·/˘·/˘ |
| Confiding always onvHis excellent greatness. | 11 | ˘/˘/···/˘/˘ |
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.