Beauty and Art
The gods are dead; but still for meLives on in wildwood brook and treeEach myth, each old divinity.
For me still laughs among the rocksThe Naiad; and the Dryad's locksDrop perfume on the wildflower flocks.
The Satyr's hoof still prints the loam;And, whiter than the wind-blown foam,The Oread haunts her mountain home.
To him, whose mind is fain to dwellWith loveliness no time can quell,All things are real, imperishable.
To him--whatever facts may say--Who sees the soul beneath the clay,Is proof of a diviner day.
The very stars and flowers preachA gospel old as God, and teachPhilosophy a child may reach;
That cannot die; that shall not cease;That lives through idealitiesOf Beauty, ev'n as Rome and Greece.
That lifts the soul above the clod,And, working out some periodOf art, is part and proof of God.
Words in this poem
- wildwood n.
- A wild or unfrequented wood. Also used adjectively; as, wildwood flowers; wildwood echoes. Burns.
- naiad n.
- A water nymph; one of the lower female divinities, fabled to preside over some body of fresh water, as a lake, river, brook, or fountain. [L. naias, -adis, naïs, -idis, a water nymph, Gr naïade. Cf. Naid.]
- oread n.
- One of the nymphs of mountains and grottoes. [L. Oreas, -adis, Gr. oréade.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- 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,]
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Beauty and Art 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, Beauty and Art, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/beauty-and-art.html, id L10950.
Form and metre
Beauty and Art is 24 lines in 8 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 58% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA- meA · treeA · divinity
- 2 AAA rocksA · locksA · flocksA
- 3 AAA loamA · foamA · homeA
- 4 AA- dwellA · quellA · imperishable
- 5 AAA sayA · clayA · dayA
- 6 AAA preachA · teachA · reachA
- 7 A-A ceaseA · idealities · greeceA
- 8 AAA clodA · periodA · godA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The gods are dead; but still for me | 8 | ········ |
| Lives on in wildwood brook and tree | 8 | ···/···· |
| Each myth, each old divinity. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| For me still laughs among the rocks | 8 | ········ |
| The Naiad; and the Dryad's locks | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Drop perfume on the wildflower flocks. | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| The Satyr's hoof still prints the loam; | 8 | ········ |
| And, whiter than the wind-blown foam, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Oread haunts her mountain home. | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| To him, whose mind is fain to dwell | 8 | ········ |
| With loveliness no time can quell, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| All things are real, imperishable. | 9 | ····˘/˘˘˘ |
| To him--whatever facts may say-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who sees the soul beneath the clay, | 8 | ········ |
| Is proof of a diviner day. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The very stars and flowers preach | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A gospel old as God, and teach | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Philosophy a child may reach; | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| That cannot die; that shall not cease; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That lives through idealities | 6 | ······ |
| Of Beauty, ev'n as Rome and Greece. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That lifts the soul above the clod, | 8 | ········ |
| And, working out some period | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of art, is part and proof of God. | 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.