Seasons
Thou vainly, O Man, self-deceiver, exaltestThyself the king and only thinker of this world,Where life aboundeth infinite to destroy thee.
Well-guided are thy forces and govern'd bravely,But like a tyrant crūel or savage monsterThou disregardest ignorantly all bēingSave only thine own insubordinate ruling:
As if the flowër held not a happy pact with Spring;As if the brutes lack'd reason and sorrow's torment;Or ev'n divine love from the small atoms grew not,Their grave affection unto thy passion mingling.
An truly were it nobler and better wisdomTo fear the blind thing blindly, lest it espy thee;And scrupulously dovhonour to dumb creatures,
No one offending impiously, nor forcingTo service of vile uses; ordering ratherThy slave to beauty, compelling lovingkindness.
So should desire, the only priestess of NatureDivinely inspir'd, like a good monarch rule thee,And lead thee onward in the consummate motionOf life eternal unto heav'nly perfection.
Words in this poem
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- ignorantly adv.
- In a ignorant manner; without knowledge; inadvertently.
- insubordinate a.
- Not submitting to authority; disobedient; rebellious; mutinous
- pact n.
- An agreement; a league; a compact; a covenant. [L. pactum, fr. paciscere to make a bargain or contract, fr. pacere to settle, or agree upon; cf. pangere to fasten, Gr. paca bond, and E. fang: cf. F. pacie. Cf]
- blindly adv.
- Without sight, discernment, or understanding; without thought, investigation, knowledge, or purpose of one's own.
- ordering n.
- Disposition; distribution; management. South.
- priestess n.
- A woman who officiated in sacred rites among pagans. Abp.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Seasons 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, Seasons, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/seasons.html, id L01851.
Form and metre
Seasons is 21 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 76% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.6 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 --AA bravely · monster · bēingA · rulingA
- 3 A--A springA · torment · not · minglingA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou vainly, O Man, self-deceiver, exaltest | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Thyself the king and only thinker of this world, | 12 | ˘/···/˘/˘··· |
| Where life aboundeth infinite to destroy thee. | 12 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·˘/· |
| Well-guided are thy forces and govern'd bravely, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| But like a tyrant crūel or savage monster | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Thou disregardest ignorantly all bēing | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘·· |
| Save only thine own insubordinate ruling: | 12 | ·/˘··˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| As if the flowër held not a happy pact with Spring; | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| As if the brutes lack'd reason and sorrow's torment; | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Or ev'n divine love from the small atoms grew not, | 12 | ··˘/····/˘·· |
| Their grave affection unto thy passion mingling. | 13 | ··˘/˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| An truly were it nobler and better wisdom | 12 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| To fear the blind thing blindly, lest it espy thee; | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| And scrupulously dovhonour to dumb creatures, | 12 | ·/˘˘˘·····/˘ |
| No one offending impiously, nor forcing | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| To service of vile uses; ordering rather | 12 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Thy slave to beauty, compelling lovingkindness. | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘/˘˘ |
| So should desire, the only priestess of Nature | 13 | ··˘/˘·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Divinely inspir'd, like a good monarch rule thee, | 12 | ˘/˘˘/···/··· |
| And lead thee onward in the consummate motion | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| Of life eternal unto heav'nly perfection. | 12 | ··˘/˘····˘/˘ |
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.