The Skies
Ay! gloriously thou standest there,Beautiful, boundles firmament!That, swelling wide o'er earth and air,And round the horizon bent,With thy bright vault, and sapphire wall,Dost overhang and circle all.
Far, far below thee, tall old treesArise, and piles built up of old,And hills, whose ancient summits freezeIn the fierce light and cold.The eagle soars his utmost height,Yet far thou stretchest o'er his flight.
Thou hast thy frowns--with thee on highThe storm has made his airy seat,Beyond that soft blue curtain lieHis stores of hail and sleet.Thence the consuming lightnings break,There the strong hurricanes awake.
Yet art thou prodigal of smiles--Smiles, sweeter than thy frowns are stern:Earth sends, from all her thousand isles,A shout at thy return.The glory that comes down from thee,Bathes, in deep joy, the land and sea.
The sun, the gorgeous sun is thine,The pomp that brings and shuts the day,The clouds that round him change and shine,The airs that fan his way.Thence look the thoughtful stars, and thereThe meek moon walks the silent air.
The sunny Italy may boastThe beauteous tints that flush her skies,And lovely, round the Grecian coast,May thy blue pillars rise.I only know how fair they standAround my own beloved land.
And they are fair--a charm is theirs,That earth, the proud green earth, has not--With all the forms, and hues, and airs,That haunt her sweetest spot.We gaze upon thy calm pure sphere,And read of Heaven's eternal year.
Oh, when, amid the throng of men,The heart grows sick of hollow mirth,How willingly we turn us thenAway from this cold earth,And look into thy azure breast,For seats of innocence and rest!
Words in this poem
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- overhang v. t.
- To impend or hang over. Beau. & Fl.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- sleet n.
- The part of a mortar extending from the chamber to the trunnions.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- willingly adv.
- In a willing manner; with free will; without reluctance; cheerfully.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Skies 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, The Skies, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-skies.html, id L07289.
Form and metre
The Skies is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCC thereA · firmamentB · airA · bentB · wallC · allC
- 2 ABABCC treesA · oldB · freezeA · coldB · heightC · flightC
- 3 ABABCC highA · seatB · lieA · sleetB · breakC · awakeC
- 4 ABABCC smilesA · sternB · islesA · returnB · theeC · seaC
- 5 ABABCC thineA · dayB · shineA · wayB · thereC · airC
- 6 ABABCC boastA · skiesB · coastA · riseB · standC · landC
- 7 ABABCC theirsA · notB · airsA · spotB · sphereC · yearC
- 8 ABABCC menA · mirthB · thenA · earthB · breastC · restC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ay! gloriously thou standest there, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Beautiful, boundles firmament! | 7 | /˘˘·/˘˘ |
| That, swelling wide o'er earth and air, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And round the horizon bent, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| With thy bright vault, and sapphire wall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Dost overhang and circle all. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Far, far below thee, tall old trees | 8 | ········ |
| Arise, and piles built up of old, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And hills, whose ancient summits freeze | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In the fierce light and cold. | 6 | ······ |
| The eagle soars his utmost height, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Yet far thou stretchest o'er his flight. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou hast thy frowns--with thee on high | 8 | ········ |
| The storm has made his airy seat, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beyond that soft blue curtain lie | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His stores of hail and sleet. | 6 | ······ |
| Thence the consuming lightnings break, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| There the strong hurricanes awake. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Yet art thou prodigal of smiles-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Smiles, sweeter than thy frowns are stern: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Earth sends, from all her thousand isles, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A shout at thy return. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The glory that comes down from thee, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bathes, in deep joy, the land and sea. | 8 | ········ |
| The sun, the gorgeous sun is thine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pomp that brings and shuts the day, | 8 | ········ |
| The clouds that round him change and shine, | 8 | ········ |
| The airs that fan his way. | 6 | ······ |
| Thence look the thoughtful stars, and there | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The meek moon walks the silent air. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sunny Italy may boast | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| The beauteous tints that flush her skies, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| And lovely, round the Grecian coast, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| May thy blue pillars rise. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I only know how fair they stand | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Around my own beloved land. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And they are fair--a charm is theirs, | 8 | ········ |
| That earth, the proud green earth, has not-- | 8 | ········ |
| With all the forms, and hues, and airs, | 8 | ········ |
| That haunt her sweetest spot. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We gaze upon thy calm pure sphere, | 8 | ········ |
| And read of Heaven's eternal year. | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Oh, when, amid the throng of men, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The heart grows sick of hollow mirth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How willingly we turn us then | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Away from this cold earth, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And look into thy azure breast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For seats of innocence and rest! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
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