The Conclusion to Part the First
It was a lovely sight to seeThe lady Christabel, when sheWas praying at the old oak tree.Amid the jagged shadowsOf mossy leafless boughs,Kneeling in the moonlight,To make her gentle vows;Her slender palms together prest,Heaving sometimes on her breast;Her face resigned to bliss or bale--Her face, oh call it fair not pale,And both blue eyes more, bright than clear,Each about to have a tear.
With open eyes (ah woe is me!)Asleep, and dreaming fearfully,Fearfully dreaming, yet, I wis,.Dreaming that alone, which is--O sorrow and shame! Can this be she,The lady, who knelt at the old oak tree?And lo! the worker of these harms,That holds the maiden in her arms,Seems to slumber still and mild,As a mother with her child.
A star hath set, a star hath risen,O Geraldine! since arms of thineHave been the lovely lady's prison.O Geraldine! one hour was thineThou'st had thy will! By tairn and rill,The night-birds all that hour were still.But now they are jubilant anew,From cliff and tower, tu-whoo! tu-whoo!Tu-whoo! tu-whoo! from wood and fell!
And see! the lady ChristabelGathers herself from out her trance;Her limbs relax, her countenanceGrows sad and soft; the smooth thin lidsClose o'er her eyes; and tears she shedsLarge tears that leave the lashes bright!And oft the while she seems to smileAs infants at a sudden light!
Yea, she doth smile, and she doth weep,Like a youthful hermitess,Beauteous in a wilderness,Who, praying always, prays in sleep.And, if she move unquietly,Perchance,'tis but the blood so freeComes back and tingles in her feet.No doubt, she hath a vision sweet.What if her guardian spirit 'twere,What if she knew her mother near?But this she knows, in joys and woes,That saints will aid if men will call:For the blue sky bends over all!
Words in this poem
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- resigned a.
- Submissive; yielding; not disposed to resist or murmur.
- fearfully adv.
- In a fearful manner.
- 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]
- jubilant a.
- Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting. [L. jubilans, -antis, p. pr. of jubilare to shout for joy: cf. F. jubila. See Jubilate.]
- hermitess n.
- A female hermit. Coleridge.
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Conclusion to Part the First 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, The Conclusion to Part the First, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/the-conclusion-to-part-the-first.html, id L00304.
Form and metre
The Conclusion to Part the First is 53 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 6 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 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 AAA-B-BCCDDEE seeA · sheA · treeA · shadows · boughsB · moonlight · vowsB · prestC · breastC · baleD · paleD · clearE · tearE
- 2 A---AABBCC meA · fearfully · wis · is · sheA · treeA · harmsB · armsB · mildC · childC
- 3 ABABCCDD- risenA · thineB · prisonA · thineB · rillC · stillC · anewD · whooD · fell
- 4 -AA--B-B christabel · tranceA · countenanceA · lids · sheds · brightB · smile · lightB
- 5 ABBA--CCDD-EE weepA · hermitessB · wildernessB · sleepA · unquietly · free · feetC · sweetC · twereD · nearD · woes · callE · allE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was a lovely sight to see | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The lady Christabel, when she | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was praying at the old oak tree. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Amid the jagged shadows | 7 | ˘/··˘/· |
| Of mossy leafless boughs, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Kneeling in the moonlight, | 6 | /˘··/· |
| To make her gentle vows; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Her slender palms together prest, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Heaving sometimes on her breast; | 7 | /˘/···· |
| Her face resigned to bliss or bale-- | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Her face, oh call it fair not pale, | 8 | ········ |
| And both blue eyes more, bright than clear, | 8 | ········ |
| Each about to have a tear. | 7 | ······· |
| With open eyes (ah woe is me!) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Asleep, and dreaming fearfully, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Fearfully dreaming, yet, I wis,. | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Dreaming that alone, which is-- | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| O sorrow and shame! Can this be she, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| The lady, who knelt at the old oak tree? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And lo! the worker of these harms, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That holds the maiden in her arms, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Seems to slumber still and mild, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As a mother with her child. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A star hath set, a star hath risen, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| O Geraldine! since arms of thine | 8 | ·˘˘/···· |
| Have been the lovely lady's prison. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| O Geraldine! one hour was thine | 8 | ·˘˘/·/·· |
| Thou'st had thy will! By tairn and rill, | 8 | ········ |
| The night-birds all that hour were still. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| But now they are jubilant anew, | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| From cliff and tower, tu-whoo! tu-whoo! | 8 | ···/···· |
| Tu-whoo! tu-whoo! from wood and fell! | 8 | ········ |
| And see! the lady Christabel | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Gathers herself from out her trance; | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| Her limbs relax, her countenance | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| Grows sad and soft; the smooth thin lids | 8 | ········ |
| Close o'er her eyes; and tears she sheds | 8 | ········ |
| Large tears that leave the lashes bright! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And oft the while she seems to smile | 8 | ········ |
| As infants at a sudden light! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yea, she doth smile, and she doth weep, | 8 | ········ |
| Like a youthful hermitess, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Beauteous in a wilderness, | 8 | /˘˘··/˘˘ |
| Who, praying always, prays in sleep. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| And, if she move unquietly, | 7 | ······· |
| Perchance,'tis but the blood so free | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Comes back and tingles in her feet. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No doubt, she hath a vision sweet. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What if her guardian spirit 'twere, | 8 | ···/˘˘/· |
| What if she knew her mother near? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But this she knows, in joys and woes, | 8 | ········ |
| That saints will aid if men will call: | 8 | ········ |
| For the blue sky bends over all! | 8 | ········ |
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