A Midnight Sun
FEARFUL of rivalry thou canst not be.How should the pure, pale moon dispute the sun;Or the innumerable companyOf scintillant stars, though banded all as one?
One glance of thy hot anger can dismayThe boldest planet till he fades and flees,And hastes to bury his affrighted rayIn far, uncalculated distances.
Why linger then to rule the midnight sky,Baffling celestial rule, and vexing menWho watched thy sinking but an hour gone byOnly to see thee turn thy steps again?
The drowsy birds are drooping on the trees,The cock’s faint crow but dimly prophesies;The weary peasant slumbers ill at ease,And blinks and winks, half wakes and rubs his eyes.
The east it flushes wanly, as in doubt;Foams with unrest the roused and wrathful sea;The scared moon peeped, then turned her round about,And fled across the heavens at sight of thee.
Sovereign of day thou art by law divine,None shall thy rulership or sway divide;The dawning and the rosy morn are thine,The busy afternoon and hot noontide.
But dusk of breezy twilight firefly-lit,With chirp of drowsy bird and flash of dew,And children clasping sleep while shunning it,And midnight, with its deep, mysterious blue,—
These are the properties and appanageOf sovereign Night, thy equal and thy foe;And when she cometh and flings down her gageAnd claims her kingdom, ’tis thy time to go.
And when in turn thou comest she must flee.Each has a realm, and each must reign alone;And not for her remains and not for theeTo seize and claim an undivided throne.
The sky it loves thee, but it loves the moon;The world it needs thee, but it needs the night.Blind us not, then, with thine inopportune,Bewildering, and unexpected light.
Leave us to sleep, and duly take thy rest.Vain is the plea; the king is on his way,And, following his tossing golden crest,Comes the long train of hours, and it is Day.
Words in this poem 15
- scintillant a.
- Emitting sparks, or fine igneous particles; sparkling. M. [L. scintillans, p.pr. of scintillare to sparkle. See Scintillate.]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- wanly adv.
- In a wan, or pale, manner.
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- wrathful a.
- Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
- 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,]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
- firefly n.
- Any luminous winged insect, esp. luminous beetles of the family Lampyridæ.
- appanage n.
- The portion of land assigned by a sovereign prince for the subsistence of his younger sons. [F. apanage, fr. OF. apaner to nourish, support, fr. LL. apanare to furnish with bread, to provision; L. ad + pains bread.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- inopportune a.
- Not opportune; inconvenient; unseasonable; as, an inopportune occurrence, remark, etc. [L. inopportunus: cf. F. inopportun. See In- not, and Opportune.]
- bewildering a.
- Causing bewilderment or great perplexity; as, bewildering difficulties.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Midnight Sun is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, A Midnight Sun, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/a-midnight-sun.html, id L23439.
Form and metre
A Midnight Sun is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -A-A be · sunA · company · oneA
- 2 ABAB dismayA · fleesB · rayA · distancesB
- 3 ABAB skyA · menB · byA · againB
- 4 AAAA treesA · prophesiesA · easeA · eyesA
- 5 ABAB doubtA · seaB · aboutA · theeB
- 6 ABAB divineA · divideB · thineA · noontideB
- 7 ABAB litA · dewB · itA · blueB
- 8 -A-A appanage · foeA · gage · goA
- 9 ABAB fleeA · aloneB · theeA · throneB
- 10 ABAB moonA · nightB · inopportuneA · lightB
- 11 ABAB restA · wayB · crestA · dayB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FEARFUL of rivalry thou canst not be. | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| How should the pure, pale moon dispute the sun; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Or the innumerable company | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Of scintillant stars, though banded all as one? | 11 | ·/˘˘··/˘··· |
| One glance of thy hot anger can dismay | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The boldest planet till he fades and flees, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And hastes to bury his affrighted ray | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In far, uncalculated distances. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Why linger then to rule the midnight sky, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Baffling celestial rule, and vexing men | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| Who watched thy sinking but an hour gone by | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Only to see thee turn thy steps again? | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| The drowsy birds are drooping on the trees, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The cock’s faint crow but dimly prophesies; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| The weary peasant slumbers ill at ease, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And blinks and winks, half wakes and rubs his eyes. | 10 | ·········· |
| The east it flushes wanly, as in doubt; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Foams with unrest the roused and wrathful sea; | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The scared moon peeped, then turned her round about, | 10 | ·········· |
| And fled across the heavens at sight of thee. | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| Sovereign of day thou art by law divine, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| None shall thy rulership or sway divide; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The dawning and the rosy morn are thine, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The busy afternoon and hot noontide. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··/˘ |
| But dusk of breezy twilight firefly-lit, | 11 | ···/˘/·/˘·· |
| With chirp of drowsy bird and flash of dew, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And children clasping sleep while shunning it, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And midnight, with its deep, mysterious blue,— | 10 | ·/····˘/˘· |
| These are the properties and appanage | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Of sovereign Night, thy equal and thy foe; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And when she cometh and flings down her gage | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And claims her kingdom, ’tis thy time to go. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And when in turn thou comest she must flee. | 10 | ·········· |
| Each has a realm, and each must reign alone; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And not for her remains and not for thee | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| To seize and claim an undivided throne. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The sky it loves thee, but it loves the moon; | 10 | ·········· |
| The world it needs thee, but it needs the night. | 10 | ·········· |
| Blind us not, then, with thine inopportune, | 10 | ······˘·˘/ |
| Bewildering, and unexpected light. | 10 | ˘/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| Leave us to sleep, and duly take thy rest. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Vain is the plea; the king is on his way, | 10 | ·········· |
| And, following his tossing golden crest, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Comes the long train of hours, and it is Day. | 10 | ·····/···· |
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