Contemplations (extract)
Some time now past in the Autumnal Tide,When Phoebus wanted but one hour to bed,The trees all richly clad, yet void of prideWere gilded o'er by his rich golden head.Their leaves and fruits, seem'd painted, but was trueOf green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue,Rapt were my senses at this delectable view.
I wist not what to wish, yet sure, thought I,If so much excellence abide below,How excellent is He that dwells on high!Whose power and beauty by his works we know;Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light,That hath this underworld so richly dight:More Heaven than Earth was here, no winter and no night.
Then on a stately oak I cast mine eye,Whose ruffling top the clouds seem'd to aspire;How long since thou wast in thine infancy?Thy strength, and stature, more thy years admire;Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born,Or thousand since thou breakest thy shell of horn?If so, all these as naught Eternity doth scorn.
I heard the merry grasshopper then sing,The black-clad cricket bear a second part,They kept one tune, and played on the same string,Seeming to glory in their little art.Shall creatures abject thus their voices raise?And in their kind resound their Master's praise:Whilst I, as mute, can warble forth no higher lays.
When I behold the heavens as in their prime,And then the earth (though old) still clad in green,The stones and trees, insensible of time,Nor age nor wrinkle on their front are seen;If winter come, and greenness then do fade,A spring returns, and they more youthful made;But Man grows old, lies down, remains where once he's laid.
Words in this poem
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
- delectable a.
- Highly pleasing; delightful. [OF. delitable, OF. delitable, F. délectable, fr. L. delectabilis, fr. delectare to delight. See Delight.]
- underworld n.
- The lower of inferior world; the world which is under the heavens; the earth.
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- 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,]
- abject a.
- Cast down; low-lying. [L. abjectus, p. p. of abjicere to throw away; ab + jacere to throw. See Jet a shooting forth.]
- warble v. t.
- To sing in a trilling, quavering, or vibratory manner; to modulate with turns or variations; to trill; as, certain birds are remarkable for warbling their songs. [OE. werbelen, OF. werbler; of Teutonic origin; cf. G. wirbeln to turn, to warble, D. wervelen, akin to E. whirl. See Whirl.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Contemplations (extract) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Selections from American Poetry, with Special Reference to Poe, Longfellow, Lowell and Whittier, edited by Margaret Sprague Carhart, Project Gutenberg ebook #3650; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anne Bradstreet, Contemplations (extract), (1678), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carhart-anne-bradstreet/contemplations-extract.html, id L25948.
Form and metre
Contemplations (extract) is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCC, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. 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 ABABCCC tideA · bedB · prideA · headB · trueC · hueC · viewC
- 2 ABABCCC iA · belowB · highA · knowB · lightC · dightC · nightC
- 3 -A-ABBB eye · aspireA · infancy · admireA · bornB · hornB · scornB
- 4 ABABCCC singA · partB · stringA · artB · raiseC · praiseC · laysC
- 5 ABABCCC primeA · greenB · timeA · seenB · fadeC · madeC · laidC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Some time now past in the Autumnal Tide, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| When Phoebus wanted but one hour to bed, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| The trees all richly clad, yet void of pride | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Were gilded o'er by his rich golden head. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Their leaves and fruits, seem'd painted, but was true | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of green, of red, of yellow, mixed hue, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Rapt were my senses at this delectable view. | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘· |
| I wist not what to wish, yet sure, thought I, | 10 | ·········· |
| If so much excellence abide below, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| How excellent is He that dwells on high! | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Whose power and beauty by his works we know; | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| That hath this underworld so richly dight: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| More Heaven than Earth was here, no winter and no night. | 12 | ·/·····/˘··· |
| Then on a stately oak I cast mine eye, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whose ruffling top the clouds seem'd to aspire; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| How long since thou wast in thine infancy? | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Thy strength, and stature, more thy years admire; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Hath hundred winters past since thou wast born, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Or thousand since thou breakest thy shell of horn? | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| If so, all these as naught Eternity doth scorn. | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| I heard the merry grasshopper then sing, | 10 | ···/˘/·˘·· |
| The black-clad cricket bear a second part, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| They kept one tune, and played on the same string, | 10 | ·········· |
| Seeming to glory in their little art. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Shall creatures abject thus their voices raise? | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And in their kind resound their Master's praise: | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| Whilst I, as mute, can warble forth no higher lays. | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| When I behold the heavens as in their prime, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| And then the earth (though old) still clad in green, | 10 | ·········· |
| The stones and trees, insensible of time, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Nor age nor wrinkle on their front are seen; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| If winter come, and greenness then do fade, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A spring returns, and they more youthful made; | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| But Man grows old, lies down, remains where once he's laid. | 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.