A Twilight Moth
Dusk is thy dawn; when Eve puts on its stateOf gold and purple in the marbled west,Thou comest forth like some embodied trait,Or dim conceit, a lily bud confessed;Or of a rose the visible wish; that, white,Goes softly messengering through the night,Whom each expectant flower makes its guest.
All day the primroses have thought of thee,Their golden heads close-haremed from the heat;All day the mystic moonflowers silkenlyVeiled snowy faces,--that no bee might greet,Or butterfly that, weighed with pollen, passed;--Keeping Sultana charms for thee, at last,Their lord, who comest to salute each sweet.
Cool-throated flowers that avoid the day'sToo fervid kisses; every bud that drinksThe tipsy dew and to the starlight playsNocturnes of fragrance, thy wing'd shadow linksIn bonds of secret brotherhood and faith;O bearer of their order's shibboleth,Like some pale symbol fluttering o'er these pinks.
What dost them whisper in the balsam's earThat sets it blushing, or the hollyhock's,--A syllabled silence that no man may hear,--As dreamily upon its stem it rocks?What spell dost bear from listening plant to plant,Like some white witch, some ghostly ministrant,Some specter of some perished flower of phlox?
O voyager of that universe which liesBetween the four walls of this garden fair,--Whose constellations are the firefliesThat wheel their instant courses everywhere,--Mid faery firmaments wherein one seesMimic Boötes and the Pleiades,Thou steerest like some faery ship of air.
Gnome-wrought of moonbeam-fluff and gossamer,Silent as scent, perhaps thou chariotestMab or King Oberon; or, haply, herHis queen, Titania, on some midnight quest.--Oh for the herb, the magic euphrasy,That should unmask thee to mine eyes, ah me!And all that world at which my soul hath guessed!
Words in this poem 23
- marbled a.
- Made of, or faced with, marble.
- trait n.
- A stroke; a touch. [F., fr. L. tractus, fr. trahere to draw. See Trace, v., and cf. Tract a region, Trace a strap, Tret.]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- pollen n.
- Fine bran or flour. Bailey.
- sultana n.
- The wife of a sultan; a sultaness. [It.]
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
- fervid a.
- Very hot; burning; boiling. [L. fervidus, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- starlight n.
- The light given by the stars.
- shibboleth n.
- A word which was made the criterion by which to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites. The Ephraimites, not being able to pronounce sh, called the word sibboleth. See Judges xii. [Heb. shibboleth an ear of corn, or a stream, a flood.]
- dreamily adv.
- As if in a dream; softly; slowly; languidly.
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- ministrant a.
- Performing service as a minister; attendant on service; acting under command; subordinate. [L. ministrans, -antis, of ministrare to minister.]
- phlox n.
- A genus of American herbs, having showy red, white, or purple flowers. Phlox worm (Zoöl.), the larva of an American moth (Heliothis phloxiphaga). It is destructive to phloxes.
- voyager n.
- One who voyages; one who sails or passes by sea or water. [Cf. F. voyager traveling.]
- pleiades n.
- The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a constellation in the sky.
- gnome n.
- An imaginary being, supposed by the Rosicrucians to inhabit the inner parts of the earth, and to be the guardian of mines, quarries, etc. [F. gnome, prob. fr. Gr. i. e., of the treasures in the inner parts of the earth, or fr. Know.]
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- gossamer n.
- A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders. [OE. gossomer, gossummer, gosesomer, perh. for goose summer, from its downy appearance, or perh. for God's summer, cf. G. mariengarr gossamer, properly Mary's ya]
- oberon n.
- The king of the fairies, and husband of Titania or Queen Mab. [F., fr. OF. Auberon; prob. of Frankish origin.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- euphrasy n.
- The plant eyesight (euphrasia officionalis), formerly regarded as beneficial in disorders of the eyes. [NL. euphrasia, fr. Gr. eufrasia, F. eufrasie.]
- unmask v. t.
- To strip of a mask or disguise; to lay open; to expose. [1st pref. un- + mask.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Twilight Moth is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, A Twilight Moth, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/a-twilight-moth.html, id L10864.
Form and metre
A Twilight Moth is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCCB, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCCB stateA · westB · traitA · confessedB · whiteC · nightC · guestB
- 2 -A-ABBA thee · heatA · silkenly · greetA · passedB · lastB · sweetA
- 3 ABAB--B day'sA · drinksB · playsA · linksB · faith · shibboleth · pinksB
- 4 ABABCC- earA · hollyhock'sB · hearA · rocksB · plantC · ministrantC · phlox
- 5 ABABCCB liesA · fairB · firefliesA · everywhereB · seesC · pleiadesC · airB
- 6 -A-ABBA gossamer · chariotestA · her · questA · euphrasyB · meB · guessedA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dusk is thy dawn; when Eve puts on its state | 10 | ·········· |
| Of gold and purple in the marbled west, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thou comest forth like some embodied trait, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Or dim conceit, a lily bud confessed; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Or of a rose the visible wish; that, white, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Goes softly messengering through the night, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘··· |
| Whom each expectant flower makes its guest. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| All day the primroses have thought of thee, | 10 | ···/·˘···· |
| Their golden heads close-haremed from the heat; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| All day the mystic moonflowers silkenly | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Veiled snowy faces,--that no bee might greet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Or butterfly that, weighed with pollen, passed;-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Keeping Sultana charms for thee, at last, | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| Their lord, who comest to salute each sweet. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Cool-throated flowers that avoid the day's | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Too fervid kisses; every bud that drinks | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| The tipsy dew and to the starlight plays | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Nocturnes of fragrance, thy wing'd shadow links | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| In bonds of secret brotherhood and faith; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| O bearer of their order's shibboleth, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Like some pale symbol fluttering o'er these pinks. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| What dost them whisper in the balsam's ear | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That sets it blushing, or the hollyhock's,-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A syllabled silence that no man may hear,-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| As dreamily upon its stem it rocks? | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| What spell dost bear from listening plant to plant, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Like some white witch, some ghostly ministrant, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Some specter of some perished flower of phlox? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/·· |
| O voyager of that universe which lies | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Between the four walls of this garden fair,-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whose constellations are the fireflies | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| That wheel their instant courses everywhere,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Mid faery firmaments wherein one sees | 10 | ·········· |
| Mimic Boötes and the Pleiades, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Thou steerest like some faery ship of air. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Gnome-wrought of moonbeam-fluff and gossamer, | 10 | ···/···/˘˘ |
| Silent as scent, perhaps thou chariotest | 11 | /˘··˘/·/˘˘˘ |
| Mab or King Oberon; or, haply, her | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His queen, Titania, on some midnight quest.-- | 10 | ··˘/˘··/·· |
| Oh for the herb, the magic euphrasy, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| That should unmask thee to mine eyes, ah me! | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And all that world at which my soul hath guessed! | 10 | ·········· |
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