The End of Fear
Though the whole heaven be one-eyed with the moon,Though the dead landscape seem a thing possessed,Yet I go singing through that land oppressedAs one that singeth through the flowers of June.
No more, with forest-fingers crawling freeO'er dark flint wall that seems a wall of eyes,Shall evil break my soul with mysteriesOf some world-poison maddening bush and tree.
No more shall leering ghosts of pimp and kingWith bloody secrets veiled before me stand.Last night I held all evil in my handClosed: and behold it was a little thing.
I broke the infernal gates and looked on himWho fronts the strong creation with a curse;Even the god of a lost universe,Smiling above his hideous cherubim.
And pierced far down in his soul's crypt unrivenThe last black crooked sympathy and shame,And hailed him with that ringing rainbow nameErased upon the oldest book in heaven.
Like emptied idiot masks, sin's loves and warsStare at me now: for in the night I brokeThe bubble of a great world's jest, and wokeLaughing with laughter such as shakes the stars.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- cherubim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.
- crypt n.
- A vault wholly or partly under ground; especially, a vault under a church, whether used for burial purposes or for a subterranean chapel or oratory. [L. crypta vault, crypt, Gr. Crot, Crotto.]
- idiot n.
- A man in private station, as distinguished from one holding a public office. [F. idiot, L. idiota an uneducated, ignorant, ill- informed person, Gr. Idiom.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The End of Fear is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Wild Knight and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #12037; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: G. K. Chesterton, The End of Fear, in The Wild Knight and Other Poems (1900), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12037, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/chesterton-wild-knight/the-end-of-fear.html, id L17147.
Form and metre
The End of Fear is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBA moonA · possessedB · oppressedB · juneA
- 2 ABBA freeA · eyesB · mysteriesB · treeA
- 3 ABBA kingA · standB · handB · thingA
- 4 -AA- him · curseA · universeA · cherubim
- 5 -AA- unriven · shameA · nameA · heaven
- 6 -AA- wars · brokeA · wokeA · stars
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Though the whole heaven be one-eyed with the moon, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Though the dead landscape seem a thing possessed, | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Yet I go singing through that land oppressed | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| As one that singeth through the flowers of June. | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| No more, with forest-fingers crawling free | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| O'er dark flint wall that seems a wall of eyes, | 10 | ·········· |
| Shall evil break my soul with mysteries | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Of some world-poison maddening bush and tree. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| No more shall leering ghosts of pimp and king | 10 | ·········· |
| With bloody secrets veiled before me stand. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Last night I held all evil in my hand | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Closed: and behold it was a little thing. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| I broke the infernal gates and looked on him | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| Who fronts the strong creation with a curse; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Even the god of a lost universe, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Smiling above his hideous cherubim. | 11 | /˘···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| And pierced far down in his soul's crypt unriven | 11 | ··········· |
| The last black crooked sympathy and shame, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| And hailed him with that ringing rainbow name | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Erased upon the oldest book in heaven. | 11 | ˘/···/˘··/˘ |
| Like emptied idiot masks, sin's loves and wars | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Stare at me now: for in the night I broke | 10 | ·········· |
| The bubble of a great world's jest, and woke | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Laughing with laughter such as shakes the stars. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
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.