The Voice of Nature
I stand on the cliff and watch the veiled sun palingA silver field afar in the mournful sea,The scourge of the surf, and plaintive gulls sailingAt ease on the gale that smites the shuddering lea:Whose smile severe and chasteJune never hath stirred to vanity, nor age defaced.In lofty thought strive, O spirit, for ever:In courage and strength pursue thine own endeavour.
Ah! if it were only for thee, thou restless oceanOf waves that follow and roar, the sweep of the tides;Wer't only for thee, impetuous wind, whose motionPrecipitate all o'errides, and turns, nor abides:For you sad birds and fair,Or only for thee, bleak cliff, erect in the air;Then well could I read wisdom in every feature,O well should I understand the voice of Nature.
But far away, I think, in the Thames valley,The silent river glides by flowery banks:And birds sing sweetly in branches that arch an alleyOf cloistered trees, moss-grown in their ancient ranks:Where if a light air stray,'Tis laden with hum of bees and scent of may.Love and peace be thine, O spirit, for ever:Serve thy sweet desire: despise endeavour.
And if it were only for thee, entrancèd river,That scarce dost rock the lily on her airy stem,Or stir a wave to murmur, or a rush to quiver;Wer't but for the woods, and summer asleep in them:For you my bowers green,My hedges of rose and woodbine, with walks between,Then well could I read wisdom in every feature,O well should I understand the voice of Nature.
Words in this poem
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- paling n.
- Pales, in general; a fence formed with pales or pickets; a limit; an inclosure.
- 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.]
- scourge n.
- A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. [F. escourgée, fr. L. excoriata (sc. scutica) a stripped off (lash or whip), fr. excoriate to strip, to skin. See Excoriate.]
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- cloistered a.
- Dwelling in cloisters; solitary.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Voice of Nature 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, The Voice of Nature, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/the-voice-of-nature.html, id L01764.
Form and metre
The Voice of Nature is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.9 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 ABABCCDD palingA · seaB · sailingA · leaB · chasteC · defacedC · everD · endeavourD
- 2 ABABCC-- oceanA · tidesB · motionA · abidesB · fairC · airC · feature · nature
- 3 ABABCCDD valleyA · banksB · alleyA · ranksB · strayC · mayC · everD · endeavourD
- 4 ABABCC-- riverA · stemB · quiverA · themB · greenC · betweenC · feature · nature
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I stand on the cliff and watch the veiled sun paling | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| A silver field afar in the mournful sea, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/··/˘· |
| The scourge of the surf, and plaintive gulls sailing | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| At ease on the gale that smites the shuddering lea: | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Whose smile severe and chaste | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| June never hath stirred to vanity, nor age defaced. | 11 | ·/···/˘··˘/ |
| In lofty thought strive, O spirit, for ever: | 11 | ·/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| In courage and strength pursue thine own endeavour. | 12 | ·/˘··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Ah! if it were only for thee, thou restless ocean | 12 | ····/˘···/˘/ |
| Of waves that follow and roar, the sweep of the tides; | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Wer't only for thee, impetuous wind, whose motion | 12 | ·/˘··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Precipitate all o'errides, and turns, nor abides: | 12 | ˘/˘·······˘/ |
| For you sad birds and fair, | 6 | ······ |
| Or only for thee, bleak cliff, erect in the air; | 12 | ·/˘····˘/··· |
| Then well could I read wisdom in every feature, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘/˘ |
| O well should I understand the voice of Nature. | 12 | ·····˘/···/˘ |
| But far away, I think, in the Thames valley, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| The silent river glides by flowery banks: | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And birds sing sweetly in branches that arch an alley | 13 | ···/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| Of cloistered trees, moss-grown in their ancient ranks: | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Where if a light air stray, | 6 | ······ |
| 'Tis laden with hum of bees and scent of may. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Love and peace be thine, O spirit, for ever: | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Serve thy sweet desire: despise endeavour. | 11 | ···˘/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| And if it were only for thee, entrancèd river, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| That scarce dost rock the lily on her airy stem, | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| Or stir a wave to murmur, or a rush to quiver; | 13 | ·····/˘····/˘ |
| Wer't but for the woods, and summer asleep in them: | 12 | ······/˘˘/·· |
| For you my bowers green, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| My hedges of rose and woodbine, with walks between, | 12 | ·/˘···/˘···· |
| Then well could I read wisdom in every feature, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘/˘ |
| O well should I understand the voice of Nature. | 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.