The “Name Unknown;” in Imitation of Klopstock
Prophetic pencil! wilt thou traceA faithful image of the face,Or wilt thou write the “Name Unknown,”Ordained to bless my charmèd soul,And all my future fate control,Unrivalled and alone?
Delicious Idol of my thought!Though sylph or spirit hath not taughtMy boding heart thy precious name;Yet musing on my distant fate,To charms unseen I consecrateA visionary flame
Thy rosy blush, thy meaning eye,Thy virgin voice of melody,Are ever present to my heart;Thy murmured vows shall yet be mine,My thrilling hand shall meet with thine,And never, never part!
Then fly, my days, on rapid wing,Till Love the viewless treasure bring;While I, like conscious Athens, ownA power in mystic silence sealed,A guardian angel unrevealed,And bless the “Name Unknown!”
Words in this poem
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
- sylph n.
- An imaginary being inhabiting the air; a fairy.
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- 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,]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
- viewless a.
- Not perceivable by the eye; invisible; unseen.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The “Name Unknown;” in Imitation of Klopstock is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campbell, The “Name Unknown;” in Imitation of Klopstock, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/the-name-unknown-in-imitation-of-klopstock.html, id L24453.
Form and metre
The “Name Unknown;” in Imitation of Klopstock is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 AABCCB traceA · faceA · unknownB · soulC · controlC · aloneB
- 2 AABCCB thoughtA · taughtA · nameB · fateC · consecrateC · flameB
- 3 --ABBA eye · melody · heartA · mineB · thineB · partA
- 4 AABCCB wingA · bringA · ownB · sealedC · unrevealedC · unknownB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prophetic pencil! wilt thou trace | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| A faithful image of the face, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or wilt thou write the “Name Unknown,” | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ordained to bless my charmèd soul, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And all my future fate control, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Unrivalled and alone? | 7 | ···˘·˘/ |
| Delicious Idol of my thought! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Though sylph or spirit hath not taught | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My boding heart thy precious name; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yet musing on my distant fate, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To charms unseen I consecrate | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| A visionary flame | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| Thy rosy blush, thy meaning eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy virgin voice of melody, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Are ever present to my heart; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thy murmured vows shall yet be mine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My thrilling hand shall meet with thine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And never, never part! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Then fly, my days, on rapid wing, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till Love the viewless treasure bring; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| While I, like conscious Athens, own | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A power in mystic silence sealed, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| A guardian angel unrevealed, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And bless the “Name Unknown!” | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.