"The Morn That Breaks Its Heart of Gold"
From an ode "In Commemoration of the Founding of theMassachusetts Bay Colony."
The morn that breaks its heart of goldAbove the purple hills;The eve, that spillsIts nautilus splendor where the sea is rolled;The night, that leads the vast procession inOf stars and dreams,--The beauty that shall never die or pass:--The winds, that spinOf rain the misty mantles of the grass,And thunder raiment of the mountain-streams;The sunbeams, penciling with gold the duskGreen cowls of ancient woods;The shadows, thridding, veiled with musk,The moon-pathed solitudes,Call to my Fancy, saying, "Follow! follow!"Till, following, I see,--Fair as a cascade in a rainbowed hollow,--A dream, a shape, take form,Clad on with every charm,--
The vision of that Ideality,Which lured the pioneer in wood and hill,And beckoned him from earth and sky;The dream that cannot die,Their children's children did fulfill,In stone and iron and wood,Out of the solitude,And by a stalwart actCreate a mighty fact--A Nation, now that standsClad on with hope and beauty, strength and song,Eternal, young and strong,Planting her heel on wrong,Her starry banner in triumphant hands....
Within her face the roseOf Alleghany dawns;Limbed with Alaskan snows,Floridian starlight in her eyes,--Eyes stern as steel yet tender as a fawn's,--And in her hairThe rapture of her rivers; and the dare,As perishless as truth,That o'er the crags of her Sierras flies,Urging the eagle ardor through her veins,Behold her where,Around her radiant youth,
The spirits of the cataracts and plains,The genii of the floods and forests, meet,In rainbow mists circling her brow and feet:The forces vast that sitIn session round her; powers paraclete,That guard her presence; awful forms and fair,Making secure her place;Guiding her surely as the worlds through spaceDo laws sidereal; edicts, thunder-lit,Of skyed eternity, in splendor borneOn planetary wings of night and morn.
From her high place she seesHer long procession of accomplished acts,Cloud-winged refulgencesOf thoughts in steel and stone, of marble dreams,Lift up tremendous battlements,Sun-blinding, built of facts;While in her soul she seems,Listening, to hear, as from innumerable tents,Æonian thunder, wonder, and applauseOf all the heroic ages that are gone;Feeling secureThat, as her Past, her Future shall endure,As did her CauseWhen redly broke the dawnOf fierce rebellion, and, beneath its star,The firmaments of warPoured down infernal rain,And North and South lay bleeding mid their slain.And now, no less, shall her great Cause prevail,More so in peace than war,Through the thrilled wire and electric rail,Carrying her message far:Shaping her dreamWithin the brain of steam,That, with a myriad hands,Labors unceasingly, and knits her landsIn firmer union; joining plain and streamWith steel; and binding shore to shoreWith bands of iron;--nerves and arteries,Along whose adamant forever pourHer concrete thoughts, her tireless energies.
Words in this poem 25
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- 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,]
- penciling n.
- The work of the pencil or bruch; as, delicate penciling in a picture. [Written also pencilling.]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- cascade n.
- A fall of water over a precipice, as in a river or brook; a waterfall less than a cataract. [F. cascade, fr. It. cascata, fr. cascare to ball.]
- rainbowed a.
- Formed with or like a rainbow.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- ideality n.
- The quality or state of being ideal.
- pioneer n.
- A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances. [F. pionier, orig., a foot soldier, OF. peonier, fr. OF. peon a foot soldier, F. pion. See Pawn in chess.]
- fulfill v. t.
- To fill up; to make full or complete. [OE. fulfillen, fulfullen, AS. fulfyllan; ful full + fyllan to fill. See Full, a., and Fill, v. t.]
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- alleghany a.
- Of or pertaining to the Allegheny Mountains, or the region where they are situated. Also Al"le*gha`ny.
- limbed a.
- Having limbs; -- much used in composition; as, large-limbed; short-limbed.
- starlight n.
- The light given by the stars.
- session n.
- The act of sitting, or the state of being seated. [L. sessio, fr. sedere, sessum, to sit: cf. F. session. See Sit.]
- paraclete n.
- An advocate; one called to aid or support; hence, the Consoler, Comforter, or Intercessor; -- a term applied to the Holy Spirit.
- sidereal a.
- Relating to the stars; starry; astral; as, sidereal astronomy. [L. sidereus, from sidus, sideris, a constellation, a star. Cf. Sideral, Consider, Desire.]
- skyed a.
- Surrounded by sky.
- planetary a.
- Of or pertaining to the planets; as, planetary inhabitants; planetary motions; planetary year. [Cf. L. planetarius an astrologer, F. planétaire planetary. See Planet.]
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- redly adv.
- In a red manner; with redness.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- knits n.
- Small particles of ore. Raymond. [Prob. same word as nit a louse's egg.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"The Morn That Breaks Its Heart of Gold" 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 Morn That Breaks Its Heart of Gold", in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-morn-that-breaks-its-heart-of-gold.html, id L10932.
Form and metre
"The Morn That Breaks Its Heart of Gold" is 89 lines in 6 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 7 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 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.
- 2 ABBACDECEDF-F-G-G-- goldA · hillsB · spillsB · rolledA · inC · dreamsD · passE · spinC · grassE · streamsD · duskF · woods · muskF · solitudes · followG · see · hollowG · form · charm
- 3 -ABBA--CCDEEED ideality · hillA · skyB · dieB · fulfillA · wood · solitude · actC · factC · standsD · songE · strongE · wrongE · handsD
- 4 ABACBDDEC-DE roseA · dawnsB · snowsA · eyesC · fawn'sB · hairD · dareD · truthE · fliesC · veins · whereD · youthE
- 5 -AABA-CCBDD plains · meetA · feetA · sitB · paracleteA · fair · placeC · spaceC · litB · borneD · mornD
- 6 -A-BCABC-DEE-D--FFG-G-HHIIHJ-J- sees · actsA · refulgences · dreamsB · battlementsC · factsA · seemsB · tentsC · applause · goneD · secureE · endureE · cause · dawnD · star · war · rainF · slainF · prevailG · war · railG · far · dreamH · steamH · handsI · landsI · streamH · shoreJ · arteries · pourJ · energies
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From an ode "In Commemoration of the Founding of the | 15 | ····˘·˘/˘··/˘·· |
| Massachusetts Bay Colony." | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| The morn that breaks its heart of gold | 8 | ········ |
| Above the purple hills; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The eve, that spills | 4 | ···· |
| Its nautilus splendor where the sea is rolled; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The night, that leads the vast procession in | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Of stars and dreams,-- | 4 | ···· |
| The beauty that shall never die or pass:-- | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| The winds, that spin | 4 | ···· |
| Of rain the misty mantles of the grass, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And thunder raiment of the mountain-streams; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The sunbeams, penciling with gold the dusk | 9 | ·/·/˘···· |
| Green cowls of ancient woods; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The shadows, thridding, veiled with musk, | 8 | ·/······ |
| The moon-pathed solitudes, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Call to my Fancy, saying, "Follow! follow!" | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Till, following, I see,-- | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Fair as a cascade in a rainbowed hollow,-- | 11 | ···˘/··/·/˘ |
| A dream, a shape, take form, | 6 | ······ |
| Clad on with every charm,-- | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The vision of that Ideality, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Which lured the pioneer in wood and hill, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And beckoned him from earth and sky; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The dream that cannot die, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Their children's children did fulfill, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In stone and iron and wood, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Out of the solitude, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And by a stalwart act | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Create a mighty fact-- | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| A Nation, now that stands | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Clad on with hope and beauty, strength and song, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Eternal, young and strong, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Planting her heel on wrong, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Her starry banner in triumphant hands.... | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Within her face the rose | 6 | ······ |
| Of Alleghany dawns; | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| Limbed with Alaskan snows, | 7 | ·˘·˘/˘· |
| Floridian starlight in her eyes,-- | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Eyes stern as steel yet tender as a fawn's,-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And in her hair | 4 | ···· |
| The rapture of her rivers; and the dare, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| As perishless as truth, | 6 | ······ |
| That o'er the crags of her Sierras flies, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Urging the eagle ardor through her veins, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Behold her where, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Around her radiant youth, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The spirits of the cataracts and plains, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The genii of the floods and forests, meet, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In rainbow mists circling her brow and feet: | 10 | ·/··/˘···· |
| The forces vast that sit | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In session round her; powers paraclete, | 9 | ·/˘··//˘˘ |
| That guard her presence; awful forms and fair, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Making secure her place; | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| Guiding her surely as the worlds through space | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Do laws sidereal; edicts, thunder-lit, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Of skyed eternity, in splendor borne | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| On planetary wings of night and morn. | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| From her high place she sees | 6 | ······ |
| Her long procession of accomplished acts, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Cloud-winged refulgences | 7 | ··˘···· |
| Of thoughts in steel and stone, of marble dreams, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lift up tremendous battlements, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Sun-blinding, built of facts; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While in her soul she seems, | 6 | ······ |
| Listening, to hear, as from innumerable tents, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Æonian thunder, wonder, and applause | 9 | ··/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Of all the heroic ages that are gone; | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| Feeling secure | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| That, as her Past, her Future shall endure, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| As did her Cause | 4 | ···· |
| When redly broke the dawn | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of fierce rebellion, and, beneath its star, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The firmaments of war | 6 | ······ |
| Poured down infernal rain, | 7 | ·˘·˘/˘· |
| And North and South lay bleeding mid their slain. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And now, no less, shall her great Cause prevail, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| More so in peace than war, | 6 | ······ |
| Through the thrilled wire and electric rail, | 9 | ···/·˘/˘· |
| Carrying her message far: | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Shaping her dream | 4 | /˘·· |
| Within the brain of steam, | 6 | ······ |
| That, with a myriad hands, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Labors unceasingly, and knits her lands | 10 | /˘········ |
| In firmer union; joining plain and stream | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| With steel; and binding shore to shore | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With bands of iron;--nerves and arteries, | 9 | ···/··/˘˘ |
| Along whose adamant forever pour | 9 | ˘/·/˘˘/˘· |
| Her concrete thoughts, her tireless energies. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
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.