Ode to Fear
"Hither again thy fury deal,Teach me but once like him to feel:His cypress wreath my meed decree,And I, O Fear, will dwell with thee!"
"Ah Fear! ah frantic Fear!I see, I see thee near."
"Danger whose limbs of giant mouldWhat mortal eye can fix'd behold?Who stalks his round, an hideous form,Howling amidst the midnight storm,Or throws him on the ridgy steepOf some loose hanging rock to sleep."
"------Te, Catilina, minaciPendentem scopulo."
"And those, the fiends, who, near allied,O'er Nature's wounds and wrecks preside;While Vengeance in the lurid airLifts her red arm, exposed and bare:On whom that ravening brood of fate,Who lap the blood of sorrow, wait."
"Be mine to read the visions old,Which thy awakening bards have told:And, lest thou meet my blasted view,Hold each strange tale devoutly true."
Words in this poem
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- amidst 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]
- ridgy a.
- Having a ridge or ridges; rising in a ridge.
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
- ravening n.
- Eagerness for plunder; rapacity; extortion. Luke xi. 39.
- blasted a.
- Blighted; withered.
- devoutly adv.
- In a devout and reverent manner; with devout emotions; piously.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode to Fear is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Collins; With a Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #29879; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Collins, Ode to Fear, in Ode to Evening, and Other Poems (1746), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29879, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/collins-poems/ode-to-fear-2.html, id L13369.
Form and metre
Ode to Fear is 24 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABB dealA · feelA · decreeB · theeB
- 2 AA fearA · nearA
- 3 AABBCC mouldA · beholdA · formB · stormB · steepC · sleepC
- 5 AABBCC alliedA · presideA · airB · bareB · fateC · waitC
- 6 AABB oldA · toldA · viewB · trueB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Hither again thy fury deal, | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Teach me but once like him to feel: | 8 | ········ |
| His cypress wreath my meed decree, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And I, O Fear, will dwell with thee!" | 8 | ········ |
| "Ah Fear! ah frantic Fear! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I see, I see thee near." | 6 | ······ |
| "Danger whose limbs of giant mould | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| What mortal eye can fix'd behold? | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Who stalks his round, an hideous form, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Howling amidst the midnight storm, | 8 | /˘˘/·/·· |
| Or throws him on the ridgy steep | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of some loose hanging rock to sleep." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "------Te, Catilina, minaci | 8 | ········ |
| Pendentem scopulo." | 6 | ······ |
| "And those, the fiends, who, near allied, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O'er Nature's wounds and wrecks preside; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| While Vengeance in the lurid air | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Lifts her red arm, exposed and bare: | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| On whom that ravening brood of fate, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who lap the blood of sorrow, wait." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Be mine to read the visions old, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which thy awakening bards have told: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And, lest thou meet my blasted view, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hold each strange tale devoutly true." | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
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.