The Quest
First I asked the honeybee,Busy in the balmy bowers;Saying, "Sweetheart, tell it me:Have you seen her, honeybee?She is cousin to the flowers--All the sweetness of the southIn her wild-rose face and mouth."But the bee passed silently.
Then I asked the forest bird,Warbling by the woodland waters;Saying, "Dearest, have you heard?Have you heard her, forest bird?She is one of music's daughters--Never song so sweet by halfAs the music of her laugh."But the bird said not a word.
Next I asked the evening sky,Hanging out its lamps of fire;Saying, "Loved one, passed she by?Tell me, tell me, evening sky!She, the star of my desire--Sister whom the Pleiads lost,And my soul's high pentecost."But the sky made no reply.
Where is she? ah, where is she?She to whom both love and dutyBind me, yea, immortally.--Where is she? ah, where is she?Symbol of the Earth-Soul's beauty.I have lost her. Help my heartFind her! her, who is a partOf the pagan soul of me.
Words in this poem
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- immortally adv.
- In an immortal manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Quest 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 Quest, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-quest.html, id L10898.
Form and metre
The Quest is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAABCCA, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAABCC- honeybeeA · bowersB · meA · honeybeeA · flowersB · southC · mouthC · silently
- 2 ABAABCCA birdA · watersB · heardA · birdA · daughtersB · halfC · laughC · wordA
- 3 ABAABCCA skyA · fireB · byA · skyA · desireB · lostC · pentecostC · replyA
- 4 AB-ABCCA sheA · dutyB · immortally · sheA · beautyB · heartC · partC · meA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| First I asked the honeybee, | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| Busy in the balmy bowers; | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Saying, "Sweetheart, tell it me: | 7 | /˘/···· |
| Have you seen her, honeybee? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| She is cousin to the flowers-- | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| All the sweetness of the south | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In her wild-rose face and mouth." | 7 | ······· |
| But the bee passed silently. | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Then I asked the forest bird, | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| Warbling by the woodland waters; | 9 | /˘˘··/˘/˘ |
| Saying, "Dearest, have you heard? | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Have you heard her, forest bird? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| She is one of music's daughters-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Never song so sweet by half | 7 | /˘····· |
| As the music of her laugh." | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But the bird said not a word. | 7 | ······· |
| Next I asked the evening sky, | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| Hanging out its lamps of fire; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Saying, "Loved one, passed she by? | 8 | /˘·˘···· |
| Tell me, tell me, evening sky! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| She, the star of my desire-- | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Sister whom the Pleiads lost, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And my soul's high pentecost." | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But the sky made no reply. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Where is she? ah, where is she? | 7 | ······· |
| She to whom both love and duty | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Bind me, yea, immortally.-- | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Where is she? ah, where is she? | 7 | ······· |
| Symbol of the Earth-Soul's beauty. | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| I have lost her. Help my heart | 7 | ······· |
| Find her! her, who is a part | 7 | ······· |
| Of the pagan soul of me. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.