Elusion
My soul goes out to her who says,"Come, follow me and cast off care!"Then tosses back her sun-bright hair,And like a flower before me swaysBetween the green leaves and my gaze:This creature like a girl, who smilesInto my eyes and softly laysHer hand in mine and leads me miles,Long miles of haunted forest ways.
Sometimes she seems a faint perfume,A fragrance that a flower exhaledAnd God gave form to; now, unveiled,A sunbeam making gold the gloomOf vines that roof some woodland roomOf boughs; and now the silvery soundOf streams her presence doth assume--Music, from which, in dreaming drowned,A crystal shape she seems to bloom.
Sometimes she seems the light that liesOn foam of waters where the fernShimmers and drips; now, at some turnOf woodland, bright against the skies,She seems the rainbowed mist that flies;And now the mossy fire that breaksBeneath the feet in azure eyesOf flowers; now the wind that shakesPale petals from the bough that sighs.
Sometimes she lures me with a song;Sometimes she guides me with a laugh;Her white hand is a magic staff,Her look a spell to lead me long:Though she be weak and I be strong,She needs but shake her happy hair,But glance her eyes, and, right or wrong,My soul must follow--anywhereShe wills--far from the world's loud throng.
Sometimes I think that she must beNo part of earth, but merely this--The fair, elusive thing we missIn Nature, that we dream we seeYet never see: that goldenlyBeckons; that, limbed with rose and pearl,The Greek made a divinity:--A nymph, a god, a glimmering girl,That haunts the forest's mystery.
Words in this poem
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- rainbowed a.
- Formed with or like a rainbow.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- elusive a.
- Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
- goldenly adv.
- In golden terms or a golden manner; splendidly; delightfully.
- limbed a.
- Having limbs; -- much used in composition; as, large-limbed; short-limbed.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Elusion 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, Elusion, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/elusion.html, id L10847.
Form and metre
Elusion is 45 lines in 5 stanzas of 9 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAACACA, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% 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. 40% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 -AABBCBCB says · careA · hairA · swaysB · gazeB · smilesC · laysB · milesC · waysB
- 2 ABBAACACA perfumeA · exhaledB · unveiledB · gloomA · roomA · soundC · assumeA · drownedC · bloomA
- 3 ABBAACACA liesA · fernB · turnB · skiesA · fliesA · breaksC · eyesA · shakesC · sighsA
- 4 ABBAACACA songA · laughB · staffB · longA · strongA · hairC · wrongA · anywhereC · throngA
- 5 ABBA-C-C- beA · thisB · missB · seeA · goldenly · pearlC · divinity · girlC · mystery
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My soul goes out to her who says, | 8 | ········ |
| "Come, follow me and cast off care!" | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Then tosses back her sun-bright hair, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And like a flower before me sways | 8 | ···/···· |
| Between the green leaves and my gaze: | 8 | ········ |
| This creature like a girl, who smiles | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Into my eyes and softly lays | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her hand in mine and leads me miles, | 8 | ········ |
| Long miles of haunted forest ways. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Sometimes she seems a faint perfume, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| A fragrance that a flower exhaled | 8 | ·/˘··/˘/ |
| And God gave form to; now, unveiled, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A sunbeam making gold the gloom | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Of vines that roof some woodland room | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Of boughs; and now the silvery sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of streams her presence doth assume-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Music, from which, in dreaming drowned, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| A crystal shape she seems to bloom. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sometimes she seems the light that lies | 8 | ˘/······ |
| On foam of waters where the fern | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shimmers and drips; now, at some turn | 8 | /˘······ |
| Of woodland, bright against the skies, | 8 | ·/······ |
| She seems the rainbowed mist that flies; | 8 | ···/···· |
| And now the mossy fire that breaks | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Beneath the feet in azure eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of flowers; now the wind that shakes | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Pale petals from the bough that sighs. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sometimes she lures me with a song; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Sometimes she guides me with a laugh; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Her white hand is a magic staff, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her look a spell to lead me long: | 8 | ········ |
| Though she be weak and I be strong, | 8 | ········ |
| She needs but shake her happy hair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But glance her eyes, and, right or wrong, | 8 | ········ |
| My soul must follow--anywhere | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| She wills--far from the world's loud throng. | 8 | ········ |
| Sometimes I think that she must be | 8 | ˘/······ |
| No part of earth, but merely this-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The fair, elusive thing we miss | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| In Nature, that we dream we see | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yet never see: that goldenly | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Beckons; that, limbed with rose and pearl, | 8 | /˘······ |
| The Greek made a divinity:-- | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| A nymph, a god, a glimmering girl, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That haunts the forest's mystery. | 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.