The Faun
The joys that touched thee once, be mine!The sympathies of sky and sea,The friendships of each rock and pine,That made thy lonely life, ah me!In Tempe or in Gargaphie.
Such joy as thou didst feel when first,On some wild crag, thou stood'st aloneTo watch the mountain tempest burst,With streaming thunder, lightning-sown,On Latmos or on Pelion.
Thy awe! when, crowned with vastness, NightAnd Silence ruled the deep's abyss;And through dark leaves thou saw'st the whiteBreasts of the starry maids who kissPale feet of moony Artemis.
Thy dreams! when, breasting matted weedsOf Arethusa, thou didst hearThe music of the wind-swept reeds;And down dim forest-ways drew nearShy herds of slim Arcadian deer.
Thy wisdom! that knew naught but loveAnd beauty, with which love is fraught;The wisdom of the heart--whereofAll noblest passions spring--that thoughtAs Nature thinks, "All else is naught."
Thy hope! wherein To-morrow setNo shadow; hope, that, lacking careAnd retrospect, held no regret,But bloomed in rainbows everywhere,Filling with gladness all the air.
These were thine all: in all life's moodsEmbracing all of happiness:And when within thy long-loved woodsDidst lay thee down to die--no lessThy happiness stood by to bless.
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- crag n.
- The neck or throat [A form of craw: cf. D. kraag neck, collar, G. kragen. See Craw.]
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- moony a.
- Of or pertaining to the moon.
- arcadian a.
- Of or pertaining to Arcadia; pastoral; ideally rural; as, Arcadian simplicity or scenery. [L. Arcadius, Arcadicus, fr. Arcadia: cf. F. Arcadien, Arcadique.]
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- retrospect v. i.
- To look backward; hence, to affect or concern what is past. [L. retrospicere; retro back + specere, spectum, to look. See Spy, and cf. Expect.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Faun 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, The Faun, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-faun.html, id L10954.
Form and metre
The Faun is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 ABABB mineA · seaB · pineA · meB · gargaphieB
- 2 ABAB- firstA · aloneB · burstA · sownB · pelion
- 3 ABAB- nightA · abyssB · whiteA · kissB · artemis
- 4 ABABB weedsA · hearB · reedsA · nearB · deerB
- 5 ABABB loveA · fraughtB · whereofA · thoughtB · naughtB
- 6 ABABB setA · careB · regretA · everywhereB · airB
- 7 -A-AA moods · happinessA · woods · lessA · blessA
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 joys that touched thee once, be mine! | 8 | ········ |
| The sympathies of sky and sea, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The friendships of each rock and pine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That made thy lonely life, ah me! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In Tempe or in Gargaphie. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Such joy as thou didst feel when first, | 8 | ········ |
| On some wild crag, thou stood'st alone | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To watch the mountain tempest burst, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With streaming thunder, lightning-sown, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| On Latmos or on Pelion. | 7 | ······· |
| Thy awe! when, crowned with vastness, Night | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Silence ruled the deep's abyss; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And through dark leaves thou saw'st the white | 8 | ········ |
| Breasts of the starry maids who kiss | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Pale feet of moony Artemis. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy dreams! when, breasting matted weeds | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of Arethusa, thou didst hear | 8 | ········ |
| The music of the wind-swept reeds; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And down dim forest-ways drew near | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shy herds of slim Arcadian deer. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy wisdom! that knew naught but love | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And beauty, with which love is fraught; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The wisdom of the heart--whereof | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All noblest passions spring--that thought | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| As Nature thinks, "All else is naught." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy hope! wherein To-morrow set | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No shadow; hope, that, lacking care | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And retrospect, held no regret, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| But bloomed in rainbows everywhere, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Filling with gladness all the air. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| These were thine all: in all life's moods | 8 | ········ |
| Embracing all of happiness: | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| And when within thy long-loved woods | 8 | ········ |
| Didst lay thee down to die--no less | 8 | ········ |
| Thy happiness stood by to bless. | 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.