A Day-Dream
My eyes make pictures, when they are shut:I see a fountain, large and fair,A willow and a ruined hut,And thee, and me and Mary there.O Mary! make thy gentle lap our pillow!Bend o'er us, like a bower, my beautiful green willow!
A wild-rose roofs the ruined shed,And that and summer well agree:And lo! where Mary leans her head,Two dear names carved upon the tree!And Mary's tears, they are not tears of sorrow:Our sister and our friend will both be here tomorrow.
'Twas day! but now few, large, and bright,The stars are round the crescent moon!And now it is a dark warm night,The balmiest of the month of June!A glow-worm fall'n, and on the marge remountingShines, and its shadow shines, fit stars for our sweet fountain.
O ever--ever be thou blest!For dearly, Asra! love I thee!This brooding warmth across my breast,This depth of tranquil bliss--ah, me!Fount, tree and shed are gone, I know not whither,But in one quiet room we three are still together.
The shadows dance upon the wall,By the still dancing fire-flames made;And now they slumber moveless all!And now they melt to one deep shade!But not from me shall this mild darkness steal thee;I dream thee with mine eyes, and at my heart I feel thee!
Thine eyelash on my cheek doth play--'Tis Mary's hand upon my brow!But let me check this tender layWhich none may hear but she and thou!Like the still hive at quiet midnight humming,Murmur it to yourselves, ye two beloved women!
Words in this poem
- tomorrow adv.
- On the day after the present day; on the next day; on the morrow. [Prep. to + morrow.]
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- moveless a.
- Motionless; fixed.
- 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,]
- eyelash n.
- The fringe of hair that edges the eyelid; -- usually in the pl.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Day-Dream is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Coleridge, Project Gutenberg ebook #8208; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, A Day-Dream, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/a-day-dream.html, id L00326.
Form and metre
A Day-Dream is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.3 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% 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 ABAB-- shutA · fairB · hutA · thereB · pillow · willow
- 2 ABAB-- shedA · agreeB · headA · treeB · sorrow · tomorrow
- 3 ABAB-B brightA · moonB · nightA · juneB · remounting · fountainB
- 4 ABAB-- blestA · theeB · breastA · meB · whither · together
- 5 ABABCC wallA · madeB · allA · shadeB · theeC · theeC
- 6 ABAB-- playA · browB · layA · thouB · humming · women
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My eyes make pictures, when they are shut: | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I see a fountain, large and fair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A willow and a ruined hut, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And thee, and me and Mary there. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O Mary! make thy gentle lap our pillow! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·//˘ |
| Bend o'er us, like a bower, my beautiful green willow! | 12 | ·····/·/˘·/· |
| A wild-rose roofs the ruined shed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And that and summer well agree: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And lo! where Mary leans her head, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Two dear names carved upon the tree! | 8 | ········ |
| And Mary's tears, they are not tears of sorrow: | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Our sister and our friend will both be here tomorrow. | 13 | //˘·/·····˘/· |
| 'Twas day! but now few, large, and bright, | 8 | ········ |
| The stars are round the crescent moon! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And now it is a dark warm night, | 8 | ········ |
| The balmiest of the month of June! | 8 | ········ |
| A glow-worm fall'n, and on the marge remounting | 11 | ··········· |
| Shines, and its shadow shines, fit stars for our sweet fountain. | 13 | ···/·····/·/˘ |
| O ever--ever be thou blest! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For dearly, Asra! love I thee! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| This brooding warmth across my breast, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| This depth of tranquil bliss--ah, me! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fount, tree and shed are gone, I know not whither, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| But in one quiet room we three are still together. | 12 | ···/·····˘/˘ |
| The shadows dance upon the wall, | 8 | ·/······ |
| By the still dancing fire-flames made; | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| And now they slumber moveless all! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And now they melt to one deep shade! | 8 | ········ |
| But not from me shall this mild darkness steal thee; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| I dream thee with mine eyes, and at my heart I feel thee! | 13 | ············· |
| Thine eyelash on my cheek doth play-- | 8 | ·/······ |
| 'Tis Mary's hand upon my brow! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But let me check this tender lay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which none may hear but she and thou! | 8 | ········ |
| Like the still hive at quiet midnight humming, | 10 | ·····//·/˘ |
| Murmur it to yourselves, ye two beloved women! | 12 | /˘··/˘··˘//˘ |
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.