Darkened
HIGH in the windy lighthouse towerThe lamps are burning free,Each sending with good-will and powerIts message o’er the sea,Where ships are sailing out of sight,Hidden in storm and cloud and night.
On the white waves that seethe and dashA ruddy gleam is shed;Above, the lighted windows flashAlternate gold and red,Save where one sad and blinded glassForbids the happy light to pass.
The hungry sea entreats the light,The struggling light is fain,But obdurate and blank as nightRises the darkened pane,Casting a shadow long and blackAlong the weltering ocean track.
Ah, who shall say what drowning eyesYearn for that absent ray;What unseen fleets and argosies,Ploughing a doubtful way,Seek through the night, and grope and strainFor guidance from that darkened pane?
Ah, Light Divine, so full, so free!Ah, world that lies in night!Ah, guiding radiance! shine through meBrightly and still more bright,Nor ever be thy rays in vainBecause I am a “darkened pane.”
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- 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,]
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Darkened 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, Darkened, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/darkened.html, id L23454.
Form and metre
Darkened is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCC towerA · freeB · powerA · seaB · sightC · nightC
- 2 ABABCC dashA · shedB · flashA · redB · glassC · passC
- 3 ABABCC lightA · fainB · nightA · paneB · blackC · trackC
- 4 ABABCC eyesA · rayB · argosiesA · wayB · strainC · paneC
- 5 ABABCC freeA · nightB · meA · brightB · vainC · paneC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HIGH in the windy lighthouse tower | 9 | ···/˘/·/˘ |
| The lamps are burning free, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Each sending with good-will and power | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Its message o’er the sea, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where ships are sailing out of sight, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hidden in storm and cloud and night. | 8 | /˘······ |
| On the white waves that seethe and dash | 8 | ········ |
| A ruddy gleam is shed; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Above, the lighted windows flash | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Alternate gold and red, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Save where one sad and blinded glass | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Forbids the happy light to pass. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| The hungry sea entreats the light, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The struggling light is fain, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| But obdurate and blank as night | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Rises the darkened pane, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Casting a shadow long and black | 8 | /˘·/···· |
| Along the weltering ocean track. | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘/· |
| Ah, who shall say what drowning eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yearn for that absent ray; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What unseen fleets and argosies, | 8 | ·˘/··/˘˘ |
| Ploughing a doubtful way, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Seek through the night, and grope and strain | 8 | ········ |
| For guidance from that darkened pane? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, Light Divine, so full, so free! | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Ah, world that lies in night! | 6 | ······ |
| Ah, guiding radiance! shine through me | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Brightly and still more bright, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Nor ever be thy rays in vain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Because I am a “darkened pane.” | 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.