Overseas
When Fall drowns morns in mist, it seemsIn soul I am a part of it;A portion of its humid beams,A form of fog, I seem to flitFrom dreams to dreams....
An old château sleeps 'mid the hillsOf France: an avenue of sorbsConceals it: drifts of daffodilsBloom by a 'scutcheoned gate with barbsLike iron bills.
I pass the gate unquestioned; yet,I feel, announced. Broad holm-oaks makeDark pools of restless violet.Between high bramble banks a lake,--As in a net
The tangled scales twist silver,--shines....Gray, mossy turrets swell aboveA sea of leaves. And where the pinesShade ivied walls, there lies my love,My heart divines.
I know her window, slimly seenFrom distant lanes with hawthorn hedged:Her garden, with the nectarineEspaliered, and the peach tree, wedged'Twixt walls of green.
Cool-babbling a fountain fallsFrom gryphons' mouths in porphyry;Carp haunt its waters; and white ballsOf lilies dip it when the beeCreeps in and drawls.
And butterflies--each with a faceOf faery on its wings--that seemBeheaded pansies, softly chaseEach other down the gloom and gleamTrees interspace.
And roses! roses, soft as vair,Round sylvan statues and the oldStone dial--Pompadours, that wearTheir royalty of purple and goldWith wanton air....
Her scarf, her lute, whose ribbons breatheThe perfume of her touch; her gloves,Modeling the daintiness they sheathe;Her fan, a Watteau, gay with loves,Lie there beneath
A bank of eglantine, that heapsA rose-strewn shadow.--Naïve-eyed,With lips as suave as they, she sleeps;The romance by her, open wide,O'er which she weeps.
Words in this poem
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- avenue n.
- A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit. [F. avenue, fr. avenir to come to, L. advenire. See Advene.]
- unquestioned a.
- Not called in question; not doubted.
- bramble n.
- Any plant of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. [OE. brembil, AS.brbramal), fr. the same root as E. broom, As. br. See Broom.]
- ivied a.
- Overgrown with ivy. [From Ivy.]
- slimly adv.
- In a state of slimness; in a slim manner; slenderly.
- interspace n.
- Intervening space. Bp. Hacket. [L. interspatium. See Inter-, and Space.]
- daintiness n.
- The quality of being dainty; nicety; niceness; elegance; delicacy; deliciousness; fastidiousness; squeamishness.
- watteau a.
- Having the appearance of that which is seen in pictures by Antoine Watteau, a French painter of the eighteenth century; --said esp. of women's garments; as, a Watteau bodice.
- suave a.
- Sweet; pleasant; delightful; gracious or agreeable in manner; bland. [L. suavis sweet, pleasant: cf. F. suave. See Sweet, and cf. Suasion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Overseas 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, Overseas, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/overseas.html, id L10888.
Form and metre
Overseas is 50 lines in 10 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABA, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 52% 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 ABABA seemsA · itB · beamsA · flitB · dreamsA
- 2 ABABA hillsA · sorbsB · daffodilsA · barbsB · billsA
- 3 ABABA yetA · makeB · violetA · lakeB · netA
- 4 ABABA shinesA · aboveB · pinesA · loveB · divinesA
- 5 ABABA seenA · hedgedB · nectarineA · wedgedB · greenA
- 6 A-A-A fallsA · porphyry · ballsA · bee · drawlsA
- 7 ABABA faceA · seemB · chaseA · gleamB · interspaceA
- 8 ABABA vairA · oldB · wearA · goldB · airA
- 9 ABAB- breatheA · glovesB · sheatheA · lovesB · beneath
- 10 ABABA heapsA · eyedB · sleepsA · wideB · weepsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When Fall drowns morns in mist, it seems | 8 | ········ |
| In soul I am a part of it; | 8 | ········ |
| A portion of its humid beams, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A form of fog, I seem to flit | 8 | ········ |
| From dreams to dreams.... | 4 | ···· |
| An old château sleeps 'mid the hills | 8 | ········ |
| Of France: an avenue of sorbs | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Conceals it: drifts of daffodils | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Bloom by a 'scutcheoned gate with barbs | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like iron bills. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I pass the gate unquestioned; yet, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I feel, announced. Broad holm-oaks make | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Dark pools of restless violet. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Between high bramble banks a lake,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As in a net | 4 | ···· |
| The tangled scales twist silver,--shines.... | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Gray, mossy turrets swell above | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A sea of leaves. And where the pines | 8 | ········ |
| Shade ivied walls, there lies my love, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My heart divines. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I know her window, slimly seen | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| From distant lanes with hawthorn hedged: | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Her garden, with the nectarine | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Espaliered, and the peach tree, wedged | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| 'Twixt walls of green. | 4 | ···· |
| Cool-babbling a fountain falls | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| From gryphons' mouths in porphyry; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Carp haunt its waters; and white balls | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of lilies dip it when the bee | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Creeps in and drawls. | 4 | ···· |
| And butterflies--each with a face | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of faery on its wings--that seem | 8 | ········ |
| Beheaded pansies, softly chase | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Each other down the gloom and gleam | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Trees interspace. | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| And roses! roses, soft as vair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Round sylvan statues and the old | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Stone dial--Pompadours, that wear | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Their royalty of purple and gold | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| With wanton air.... | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Her scarf, her lute, whose ribbons breathe | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The perfume of her touch; her gloves, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Modeling the daintiness they sheathe; | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Her fan, a Watteau, gay with loves, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Lie there beneath | 4 | ···· |
| A bank of eglantine, that heaps | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A rose-strewn shadow.--Naïve-eyed, | 7 | ···/··· |
| With lips as suave as they, she sleeps; | 8 | ········ |
| The romance by her, open wide, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O'er which she weeps. | 4 | ···· |
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.