Mutation
They talk of short-lived pleasure--be it so--Pain dies as quickly: stern, hard-featured painExpires, and lets her weary prisoner go.The fiercest agonies have shortest reign;And after dreams of horror, comes againThe welcome morning with its rays of peace;Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain,Makes the strong secret pangs of shame to cease:Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increaseAre fruits of innocence and blessedness:Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still releaseHis young limbs from the chains that round him press.Weep not that the world changes--did it keepA stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep.
Words in this poem
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mutation is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, Mutation, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/mutation.html, id L18539.
Form and metre
Mutation is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCBCCCCCDD. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABABBCBCCCCCDD soA · painB · goA · reignB · againB · peaceC · stainB · ceaseC · increaseC · blessednessC · releaseC · pressC · keepD · weepD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They talk of short-lived pleasure--be it so-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Pain dies as quickly: stern, hard-featured pain | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Expires, and lets her weary prisoner go. | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| The fiercest agonies have shortest reign; | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| And after dreams of horror, comes again | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The welcome morning with its rays of peace; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Oblivion, softly wiping out the stain, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Makes the strong secret pangs of shame to cease: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Remorse is virtue's root; its fair increase | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Are fruits of innocence and blessedness: | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Thus joy, o'erborne and bound, doth still release | 10 | ········˘/ |
| His young limbs from the chains that round him press. | 10 | ·········· |
| Weep not that the world changes--did it keep | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep. | 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.