Drifting
My soul to-dayIs far away,Sailing the Vesuvian Bay;My winged boatA bird afloat,Swings round the purple peaks remote:--
Round purple peaksIt sails, and seeksBlue inlets and their crystal creeks,Where high rocks throw,Through deeps below,A duplicated golden glow.
Far, vague, and dim,The mountains swim;While an Vesuvius' misty brim,With outstretched hands,The gray smoke standsO'erlooking the volcanic lands.
Here Ischia smilesO'er liquid miles;And yonder, bluest of the isles,Calm Capri waits,Her sapphire gatesBeguiling to her bright estates.
I heed not, ifMy rippling skiffFloat swift or slow from cliff to cliff;With dreamful eyesMy spirit liesUnder the walls of Paradise.
Under the wallsWhere swells and fallsThe Bay's deep breast at intervalsAt peace I lie,Blown softly by,A cloud upon this liquid sky.
The day, so mild,Is Heaven's own child,With Earth and Ocean reconciled;The airs I feelAround me stealAre murmuring to the murmuring keel.
Over the railMy hand I trailWithin the shadow of the sail,A joy intense,The cooling senseGlides down my drowsy indolence.
With dreamful eyesMy spirit liesWhere Summer sings and never dies,O'erveiled with vinesShe glows and shinesAmong her future oil and wines.
Her children, hidThe cliffs amid,Are gambolling with the gambolling kid;Or down the walls,With tipsy calls,Laugh on the rocks like waterfalls.
The fisher's child,With tresses wild,Unto the smooth, bright sand beguiled,With glowing lipsSings as she skips,Or gazes at the far-off ships.
Yon deep bark goesWhere traffic blows,From lands of sun to lands of snows;This happier one,--Its course is runFrom lands of snow to lands of sun.
O happy ship,To rise and dip,With the blue crystal at your lip!O happy crew,My heart with youSails, and sails, and sings anew!
No more, no moreThe worldly shoreUpbraids me with its loud uproarWith dreamful eyesMy spirit liesUnder the walls of Paradise!
Words in this poem
- vesuvian a.
- Of or pertaining to Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples. [Cf. F. Vésuvien, It. Vesuviano.]
- afloat adv.
- Borne on the water; floating; on board ship. [Pref. a- + float.]
- creeks n.
- A tribe or confederacy of North American Indians, including the Muskogees, Seminoles, Uchees, and other subordinate tribes. They formerly inhabited Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- capri n.
- Wine produced on the island of Capri, commonly a light, dry, white wine.
- beguiling a.
- Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting.
- skiff n.
- A small, light boat. [F. esquif, fr. OHG. skif, G. schiff. See Ship.]
- dreamful a.
- Full of dreams.
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- indolence n.
- Freedom from that which pains, or harasses, as toil, care, grief, etc. [L. indolentia freedom from pain: cf. F. indolence.]
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Drifting 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: Thomas Buchanan Read, Drifting, in Poems (1860), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carhart-thomas-buchanan-read/drifting.html, id L25956.
Form and metre
Drifting is 84 lines in 14 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABBB, complete in 11 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AAABBB dayA · awayA · bayA · boatB · afloatB · remoteB
- 2 AAABBB peaksA · seeksA · creeksA · throwB · belowB · glowB
- 3 AAABBB dimA · swimA · brimA · handsB · standsB · landsB
- 4 AAABBB smilesA · milesA · islesA · waitsB · gatesB · estatesB
- 5 AAABB- ifA · skiffA · cliffA · eyesB · liesB · paradise
- 6 AAABBB wallsA · fallsA · intervalsA · lieB · byB · skyB
- 7 AAABBB mildA · childA · reconciledA · feelB · stealB · keelB
- 8 AAABB- railA · trailA · sailA · intenseB · senseB · indolence
- 9 AAABBB eyesA · liesA · diesA · vinesB · shinesB · winesB
- 10 AAABBB hidA · amidA · kidA · wallsB · callsB · waterfallsB
- 11 AAABBB childA · wildA · beguiledA · lipsB · skipsB · shipsB
- 12 AAABBB goesA · blowsA · snowsA · oneB · runB · sunB
- 13 AAABBB shipA · dipA · lipA · crewB · youB · anewB
- 14 AAABB- moreA · shoreA · uproarA · eyesB · liesB · paradise
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My soul to-day | 4 | ···· |
| Is far away, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Sailing the Vesuvian Bay; | 8 | /˘·˘/˘˘· |
| My winged boat | 3 | ··· |
| A bird afloat, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Swings round the purple peaks remote:-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Round purple peaks | 4 | ·/˘· |
| It sails, and seeks | 4 | ···· |
| Blue inlets and their crystal creeks, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Where high rocks throw, | 4 | ···· |
| Through deeps below, | 4 | ···· |
| A duplicated golden glow. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Far, vague, and dim, | 4 | ···· |
| The mountains swim; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| While an Vesuvius' misty brim, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| With outstretched hands, | 4 | ·˘/· |
| The gray smoke stands | 4 | ···· |
| O'erlooking the volcanic lands. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Here Ischia smiles | 4 | ···· |
| O'er liquid miles; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And yonder, bluest of the isles, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Calm Capri waits, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Her sapphire gates | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Beguiling to her bright estates. | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| I heed not, if | 4 | ···· |
| My rippling skiff | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Float swift or slow from cliff to cliff; | 8 | ········ |
| With dreamful eyes | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My spirit lies | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Under the walls of Paradise. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Under the walls | 4 | ···· |
| Where swells and falls | 4 | ···· |
| The Bay's deep breast at intervals | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| At peace I lie, | 4 | ···· |
| Blown softly by, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| A cloud upon this liquid sky. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The day, so mild, | 4 | ···· |
| Is Heaven's own child, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| With Earth and Ocean reconciled; | 7 | ···//˘· |
| The airs I feel | 4 | ···· |
| Around me steal | 4 | ···· |
| Are murmuring to the murmuring keel. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Over the rail | 4 | ···· |
| My hand I trail | 4 | ···· |
| Within the shadow of the sail, | 8 | ···/···· |
| A joy intense, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The cooling sense | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Glides down my drowsy indolence. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| With dreamful eyes | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My spirit lies | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Where Summer sings and never dies, | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| O'erveiled with vines | 4 | ···· |
| She glows and shines | 4 | ···· |
| Among her future oil and wines. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her children, hid | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The cliffs amid, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Are gambolling with the gambolling kid; | 10 | ·········· |
| Or down the walls, | 4 | ···· |
| With tipsy calls, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Laugh on the rocks like waterfalls. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The fisher's child, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| With tresses wild, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Unto the smooth, bright sand beguiled, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With glowing lips | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Sings as she skips, | 4 | ···· |
| Or gazes at the far-off ships. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yon deep bark goes | 4 | ···· |
| Where traffic blows, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| From lands of sun to lands of snows; | 8 | ········ |
| This happier one,-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Its course is run | 4 | ···· |
| From lands of snow to lands of sun. | 8 | ········ |
| O happy ship, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To rise and dip, | 4 | ···· |
| With the blue crystal at your lip! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O happy crew, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My heart with you | 4 | ···· |
| Sails, and sails, and sings anew! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| No more, no more | 4 | ···· |
| The worldly shore | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Upbraids me with its loud uproar | 8 | /·····/· |
| With dreamful eyes | 4 | ·/˘· |
| My spirit lies | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Under the walls of Paradise! | 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.