Imitated from Schiller
Never, believe me,Appear the Immortals,Never alone:Scarce had I welcomed the Sorrow-beguiler,Iacchus! but in came Boy Cupid the Smiler;Lo! Phoebus the Glorious descends from his throne!They advance, they float in, the Olympians all!With Divinities fills myTerrestrial hall!
How shall I yield youDue entertainment,Celestial quire?Me rather, bright guests! with your wings of upbuoyanceBear aloft to your homes, to your banquets of joyance,That the roofs of Olympus may echo my lyre!Hah! we mount! on their pinions they waft up my soul!O give me the nectar!O fill me the bowl!
Give him the nectar!Pour out for the poet,Hebe! pour free!Quicken his eyes with celestial dew,That Styx the detested no more he may view,And like one of us Gods may conceit him to be!Thanks, Hebe! I quaff it! Io Pæan, I cry!The wine of the ImmortalsForbids me to die!
She gave with joy her virgin breast;She hid it not, she bared the breastWhich suckled that divinest babe!Blessed, blessed were the breastsWhich the Saviour infant kiss'd;And blessed, blessed was the motherWho wrapp'd his limbs in swaddling clothes,Singing placed him on her lap,Hung o'er him with her looks of love,And soothed him with a lulling motion.Blessed! for she shelter'd himFrom the damp and chilling air;Blessed, blessed! for she layWith such a bade in one blest bed,Close as babes and mothers lie!Blessed, blessed evermore,With her virgin lips she kiss'd,With her arms, and to her breast,She embraced the babe divine,Her babe divine the virgin mother!There lives not on this ring of earthA mortal that can sing her praise.Mighty mother, virgin pure,In the darkness and the nightFor us she bore the heavenly Lord!
Words in this poem 17
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- smiler n.
- One who smiles.
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- 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,]
- quire v. i.
- To sing in concert.
- upbuoyance n.
- The act of buoying up; uplifting. Coleridge.
- joyance n.
- Enjoyment; gayety; festivity; joyfulness. [OF. joiance.]
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- hebe n.
- The goddess of youth, daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was believed to have the power of restoring youth and beauty to those who had lost them. [L., fr. Gr. "h`bh youth, "H`bh Hebe.]
- styx n.
- The principal river of the lower world, which had to be crossed in passing to the regions of the dead.
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Imitated from Schiller 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, Imitated from Schiller, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/imitated-from-schiller.html, id L00365.
Form and metre
Imitated from Schiller is 52 lines in 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in common measure. 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 --ABBAC-C me · immortals · aloneA · beguilerB · smilerB · throneA · allC · my · hallC
- 2 --ABBAC-C you · entertainment · quireA · upbuoyanceB · joyanceB · lyreA · soulC · nectar · bowlC
- 3 --ABBAC-C nectar · poet · freeA · dewB · viewB · beA · cryC · immortals · dieC
- 4 AA--BC----------BA-C----- breastA · breastA · babe · breasts · kiss'dB · motherC · clothes · lap · love · motion · him · air · lay · bed · lie · evermore · kiss'dB · breastA · divine · motherC · earth · praise · pure · night · lord
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Never, believe me, | 5 | /˘˘/· |
| Appear the Immortals, | 6 | ˘/·˘/˘ |
| Never alone: | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Scarce had I welcomed the Sorrow-beguiler, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Iacchus! but in came Boy Cupid the Smiler; | 11 | ······/˘·/˘ |
| Lo! Phoebus the Glorious descends from his throne! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| They advance, they float in, the Olympians all! | 11 | ·˘/····˘/˘· |
| With Divinities fills my | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| Terrestrial hall! | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| How shall I yield you | 5 | ····· |
| Due entertainment, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Celestial quire? | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| Me rather, bright guests! with your wings of upbuoyance | 12 | ·/˘······˘/˘ |
| Bear aloft to your homes, to your banquets of joyance, | 13 | ·˘/·····/˘·/˘ |
| That the roofs of Olympus may echo my lyre! | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Hah! we mount! on their pinions they waft up my soul! | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| O give me the nectar! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| O fill me the bowl! | 5 | ····· |
| Give him the nectar! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Pour out for the poet, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hebe! pour free! | 3 | ··· |
| Quicken his eyes with celestial dew, | 9 | /˘···˘/˘· |
| That Styx the detested no more he may view, | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| And like one of us Gods may conceit him to be! | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| Thanks, Hebe! I quaff it! Io Pæan, I cry! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The wine of the Immortals | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Forbids me to die! | 5 | ˘/··· |
| She gave with joy her virgin breast; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She hid it not, she bared the breast | 9 | ······˘·· |
| Which suckled that divinest babe! | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| Blessed, blessed were the breasts | 5 | ····· |
| Which the Saviour infant kiss'd; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And blessed, blessed was the mother | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Who wrapp'd his limbs in swaddling clothes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Singing placed him on her lap, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Hung o'er him with her looks of love, | 8 | ········ |
| And soothed him with a lulling motion. | 10 | ··˘···/˘/˘ |
| Blessed! for she shelter'd him | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From the damp and chilling air; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Blessed, blessed! for she lay | 5 | ····· |
| With such a bade in one blest bed, | 8 | ········ |
| Close as babes and mothers lie! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Blessed, blessed evermore, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| With her virgin lips she kiss'd, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With her arms, and to her breast, | 7 | ······· |
| She embraced the babe divine, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| Her babe divine the virgin mother! | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| There lives not on this ring of earth | 8 | ········ |
| A mortal that can sing her praise. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Mighty mother, virgin pure, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| In the darkness and the night | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For us she bore the heavenly Lord! | 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.