Argonauts
With argosies of dawn he sails,And triremes of the dusk,The Seas of Song, whereon the galesAre myths that trail wild musk.
He hears the hail of Siren bandsFrom headlands sunset-kissed;The Lotus-eaters wave pale handsWithin a land of mist.
For many a league he hears the roarOf the Symplegades;And through the far foam of its shoreThe Isle of Sappho sees.
All day he looks, with hazy lids,At gods who cleave the deep;All night he hears the NereïdsSing their wild hearts asleep.
When heaven thunders overhead,And hell upheaves the Vast,Dim faces of the ocean's deadGaze at him from each mast.
He but repeats the oracleThat bade him first set sail;And cheers his soul with, "All is well!Go on! I will not fail."
Behold! he sails no earthly barkAnd on no earthly sea,Who down the years into the dark,--Divine of destiny,--
Holds to his purpose,--ships of Greece,--Ideal-steered afar,For whom awaits the Golden Fleece,The fame that is his star.
Words in this poem
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- sappho n.
- Any one of several species of brilliant South American humming birds of the genus Sappho, having very bright-colored and deeply forked tails; -- called also firetail. [See Sapphic.]
- hazy a.
- Thick with haze; somewhat obscured with haze; not clear or transparent. [From Haze, n.]
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Argonauts 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, Argonauts, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/argonauts.html, id L10931.
Form and metre
Argonauts is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB sailsA · duskB · galesA · muskB
- 2 ABAB bandsA · kissedB · handsA · mistB
- 3 A-A- roarA · symplegades · shoreA · sees
- 4 ABAB lidsA · deepB · nereïdsA · asleepB
- 5 ABAB overheadA · vastB · deadA · mastB
- 6 AAAA oracleA · sailA · wellA · failA
- 7 A-A- barkA · sea · darkA · destiny
- 8 ABAB greeceA · afarB · fleeceA · starB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| With argosies of dawn he sails, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And triremes of the dusk, | 6 | ·/···· |
| The Seas of Song, whereon the gales | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Are myths that trail wild musk. | 6 | ······ |
| He hears the hail of Siren bands | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From headlands sunset-kissed; | 7 | ···/··˘ |
| The Lotus-eaters wave pale hands | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Within a land of mist. | 6 | ······ |
| For many a league he hears the roar | 8 | ·/······ |
| Of the Symplegades; | 5 | ····· |
| And through the far foam of its shore | 8 | ········ |
| The Isle of Sappho sees. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| All day he looks, with hazy lids, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At gods who cleave the deep; | 6 | ······ |
| All night he hears the Nereïds | 7 | ······· |
| Sing their wild hearts asleep. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When heaven thunders overhead, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘/ |
| And hell upheaves the Vast, | 6 | ······ |
| Dim faces of the ocean's dead | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Gaze at him from each mast. | 6 | ······ |
| He but repeats the oracle | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| That bade him first set sail; | 6 | ······ |
| And cheers his soul with, "All is well! | 8 | ········ |
| Go on! I will not fail." | 6 | ······ |
| Behold! he sails no earthly bark | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And on no earthly sea, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who down the years into the dark,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Divine of destiny,-- | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| Holds to his purpose,--ships of Greece,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ideal-steered afar, | 5 | ˘/·˘/ |
| For whom awaits the Golden Fleece, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The fame that is his star. | 6 | ······ |
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