A Tombless Epitaph
'Tis true, Idoloclastes Satyrane!(So call him, for so mingling blame with praiseAnd smiles with anxious looks, his earliest friends,Masking his birth-name, wont to characterHis wild-wood fancy and impetuous zeal)'Tis true that, passionate for ancient truths,And honouring with religious love the GreatOf older times, he hated to excess,With an unquiet and intolerant scorn,The hollow puppets of an hollow age,Ever idolatrous, and changing everIts worthless idols! Learning, power, and time,(Too much of all) thus wasting in vain warOf fervid colloquy. Sickness, 'tis true,Whole years of weary days, besieged him close,Even to the gates and inlets of his life!But it is true, no less, that strenuous, firm,And with a natural gladness, he maintainedThe citadel unconquered, and in joyWas strong to follow the delightful Muse.For not a hidden path, that to the shadesOf the beloved Parnassian forest leads,Lurked undiscovered by him; not a rillThere issues from the fount of Hippocrene,But he had traced it upward to its source,Through open glade, dark glen, and secret dell,Knew the gay wild flowers on its banks, and culledIts med'cinable herbs. Yea, oft alone,Piercing the long-neglected holy cave,The haunt obscure of old Philosophy,He bade with lifted torch its starry wallsSparkle, as erst they sparkled to the flameOf odorous lamps tended by Saint and Sage.O framed for calmer times and nobler hearts!O studious Poet, eloquent for truth!Philosopher! contemning wealth and death,Yet docile, childlike, full of Life and Love!Here, rather than on monumental stone,This record of thy worth thy Friend inscribes,Thoughtful, with quiet tears upon his cheek.
Words in this poem 17
- unquiet v. t.
- To disquiet. Ld. Herbert. [1st pref. un- + quiet.]
- intolerant a.
- Not enduring; not able to endure. [L. intolerans, -antis: cf. F. intolérant. See In- not, and Tolerant.]
- fervid a.
- Very hot; burning; boiling. [L. fervidus, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- colloquy n.
- Mutual discourse of two or more persons; conference; conversation. [L. colloquium. See Collocution.]
- strenuous a.
- Eagerly pressing or urgent; zealous; ardent; earnest; bold; valiant; intrepid; as, a strenuous advocate for national rights; a strenuous reformer; a strenuous defender of his country.
- parnassian a.
- Of or pertaining to Parnassus. [L. Parnassius.]
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- hippocrene n.
- A fountain on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, fabled to have burst forth when the ground was struck by the hoof of Pegasus. Also, its waters, which were supposed to impart poetic inspiration. Keats.
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- calmer n.
- One who, or that which, makes calm.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- docile a.
- Teachable; easy to teach; docible. [L. docilis,fr. docere to teach; cf. Gr. discere to learn, Gr. docile. Cf. Doctor, Didactic, Disciple.]
- childlike a.
- Resembling a child, or that which belongs to children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful.
- monumental a.
- Of, pertaining to, or suitable for, a monument; as, a monumental inscription. [L. monumentalis: cf. F. monumental.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Tombless Epitaph 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 Tombless Epitaph, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/a-tombless-epitaph.html, id L00393.
Form and metre
A Tombless Epitaph is 40 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis true, Idoloclastes Satyrane! | 9 | ········· |
| (So call him, for so mingling blame with praise | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And smiles with anxious looks, his earliest friends, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Masking his birth-name, wont to character | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| His wild-wood fancy and impetuous zeal) | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| 'Tis true that, passionate for ancient truths, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| And honouring with religious love the Great | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Of older times, he hated to excess, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| With an unquiet and intolerant scorn, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The hollow puppets of an hollow age, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ever idolatrous, and changing ever | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘/ |
| Its worthless idols! Learning, power, and time, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/·· |
| (Too much of all) thus wasting in vain war | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of fervid colloquy. Sickness, 'tis true, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Whole years of weary days, besieged him close, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Even to the gates and inlets of his life! | 10 | /····/···· |
| But it is true, no less, that strenuous, firm, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And with a natural gladness, he maintained | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The citadel unconquered, and in joy | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Was strong to follow the delightful Muse. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| For not a hidden path, that to the shades | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of the beloved Parnassian forest leads, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Lurked undiscovered by him; not a rill | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| There issues from the fount of Hippocrene, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| But he had traced it upward to its source, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Through open glade, dark glen, and secret dell, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Knew the gay wild flowers on its banks, and culled | 10 | ····/····· |
| Its med'cinable herbs. Yea, oft alone, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Piercing the long-neglected holy cave, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| The haunt obscure of old Philosophy, | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| He bade with lifted torch its starry walls | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sparkle, as erst they sparkled to the flame | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Of odorous lamps tended by Saint and Sage. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| O framed for calmer times and nobler hearts! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O studious Poet, eloquent for truth! | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Philosopher! contemning wealth and death, | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| Yet docile, childlike, full of Life and Love! | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Here, rather than on monumental stone, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| This record of thy worth thy Friend inscribes, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Thoughtful, with quiet tears upon his cheek. | 9 | /˘·/····· |
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