On the Denial of Immortality
If dead, we cease to be; if total gloomSwallow up life's brief flash for aye, we fareAs summer-gusts, of sudden birth and doom,Whose sound and motion not alone declare,But are their whole of being! If the breathBe Life itself, and not its task and tent,If even a soul like Milton's can know death;O Man! thou vessel purposeless, unmeant,Yet drone-hive strange of phantom purposes!Surplus of Nature's dread activity,Which, as she gazed on some nigh-finished vase,Retreating slow, with meditative pause,She formed with restless hands unconsciously.Blank accident! nothing's anomaly!If rootless thus, thus substanceless thy state,Go, weigh thy dreams, and be thy hopes, thy fears,The counter-weights!--Thy laughter and thy tearsMean but themselves, each fittest to createAnd to repay each other! Why rejoicesThy heart with hollow joy for hollow good?Why cowl thy face beneath the mourner's hood,Why waste thy sighs, and thy lamenting voices,Image of Image, Ghost of Ghostly Elf,That such a thing as thou feel'st warm or cold?Yet what and whence thy gain, if thou withholdThese costless shadows of thy shadowy self?Be sad! be glad! be neither! seek, or shun!Thou hast no reason why! Thou canst have none;Thy being's being is contradiction.
Words in this poem
- purposeless a.
- Having no purpose or result; objectless. Bp. Hall.
- unmeant a.
- Not meant or intended; unintentional.
- anomaly n.
- Deviation from the common rule; an irregularity; anything anomalous. [L. anomalia, Gr. Anomalous.]
- rootless a.
- Destitute of roots.
- substanceless a.
- Having no substance; unsubstantial. Coleridge.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- costless a.
- Costing nothing.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Denial of Immortality 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, On the Denial of Immortality, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/on-the-denial-of-immortality.html, id L00352.
Form and metre
On the Denial of Immortality is 29 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 ABABCDCDE--E--FGGFHIIHJKKJLLL gloomA · fareB · doomA · declareB · breathC · tentD · deathC · unmeantD · purposesE · activity · vase · pauseE · unconsciously · anomaly · stateF · fearsG · tearsG · createF · rejoicesH · goodI · hoodI · voicesH · elfJ · coldK · withholdK · selfJ · shunL · noneL · contradictionL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If dead, we cease to be; if total gloom | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Swallow up life's brief flash for aye, we fare | 10 | /˘········ |
| As summer-gusts, of sudden birth and doom, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Whose sound and motion not alone declare, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| But are their whole of being! If the breath | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Be Life itself, and not its task and tent, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| If even a soul like Milton's can know death; | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| O Man! thou vessel purposeless, unmeant, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Yet drone-hive strange of phantom purposes! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Surplus of Nature's dread activity, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Which, as she gazed on some nigh-finished vase, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Retreating slow, with meditative pause, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘· |
| She formed with restless hands unconsciously. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Blank accident! nothing's anomaly! | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| If rootless thus, thus substanceless thy state, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Go, weigh thy dreams, and be thy hopes, thy fears, | 10 | ·········· |
| The counter-weights!--Thy laughter and thy tears | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Mean but themselves, each fittest to create | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And to repay each other! Why rejoices | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Thy heart with hollow joy for hollow good? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Why cowl thy face beneath the mourner's hood, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Why waste thy sighs, and thy lamenting voices, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Image of Image, Ghost of Ghostly Elf, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| That such a thing as thou feel'st warm or cold? | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet what and whence thy gain, if thou withhold | 10 | ········˘/ |
| These costless shadows of thy shadowy self? | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Be sad! be glad! be neither! seek, or shun! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thou hast no reason why! Thou canst have none; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thy being's being is contradiction. | 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.