Heaven
Fish (fly-replete, in depth of June,Dawdling away their wat'ry noon)Ponder deep wisdom, dark or clear,Each secret fishy hope or fear.Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond;But is there anything Beyond?This life cannot be All, they swear,For how unpleasant, if it were!One may not doubt that, somehow, GoodShall come of Water and of Mud;And, sure, the reverent eye must seeA Purpose in Liquidity.We darkly know, by Faith we cry,The future is not Wholly Dry.Mud unto mud!--Death eddies near--Not here the appointed End, not here!But somewhere, beyond Space and Time,Is wetter water, slimier slime!And there (they trust) there swimmeth OneWho swam ere rivers were begun,Immense, of fishy form and mind,Squamous, omnipotent, and kind;And under that Almighty Fin,The littlest fish may enter in.Oh! never fly conceals a hook,Fish say, in the Eternal Brook,But more than mundane weeds are there,And mud, celestially fair;Fat caterpillars drift around,And Paradisal grubs are found;Unfading moths, immortal flies,And the worm that never dies.And in that Heaven of all their wish,There shall be no more land, say fish.
Words in this poem
- fishy a.
- Consisting of fish; fishlike; having the qualities or taste of fish; abounding in fish.
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- liquidity n.
- The state or quality of being liquid. [L. liquiditas, fr. liquidus liquid: cf. F. liquidité.]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- mundane a.
- Of or pertaining to the world; worldly; earthly; terrestrial; as, the mundane sphere. [L. mundanus, fr. mundus the world, an implement, toilet adornments, or dress; cf. mundus, a., clean, neat, Skr. mansds to adorn, dress, mansdsa adornment. Cf. M]
- celestially adv.
- In a celestial manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Heaven is in the public domain. This text is taken from 1914, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #33902; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rupert Brooke, Heaven, in 1914 and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33902, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/brooke-1914/heaven.html, id L04735.
Form and metre
Heaven is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCCB-DDE-EEFFGGHHIIHHJJKKLLMMNN juneA · noonA · clearB · fearB · pondC · beyondC · swearB · were · goodD · mudD · seeE · liquidity · cryE · dryE · nearF · hereF · timeG · slimeG · oneH · begunH · mindI · kindI · finH · inH · hookJ · brookJ · thereK · fairK · aroundL · foundL · fliesM · diesM · wishN · fishN
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Fish (fly-replete, in depth of June, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Dawdling away their wat'ry noon) | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Ponder deep wisdom, dark or clear, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Each secret fishy hope or fear. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond; | 8 | ········ |
| But is there anything Beyond? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This life cannot be All, they swear, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| For how unpleasant, if it were! | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| One may not doubt that, somehow, Good | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Shall come of Water and of Mud; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, sure, the reverent eye must see | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A Purpose in Liquidity. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| We darkly know, by Faith we cry, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The future is not Wholly Dry. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Mud unto mud!--Death eddies near-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Not here the appointed End, not here! | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| But somewhere, beyond Space and Time, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Is wetter water, slimier slime! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And there (they trust) there swimmeth One | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who swam ere rivers were begun, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Immense, of fishy form and mind, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Squamous, omnipotent, and kind; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| And under that Almighty Fin, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The littlest fish may enter in. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Oh! never fly conceals a hook, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Fish say, in the Eternal Brook, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But more than mundane weeds are there, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| And mud, celestially fair; | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Fat caterpillars drift around, | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| And Paradisal grubs are found; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Unfading moths, immortal flies, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And the worm that never dies. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And in that Heaven of all their wish, | 8 | ···/···· |
| There shall be no more land, say fish. | 8 | ········ |
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.