May 31, 1882
“FARTHER horizons every year!”Oh, tossing pines which surge and waveAbove the poet’s just made grave,And waken for his sleeping earThe music that he loved to hear,Through summer’s sun and winter’s chill,With purpose stanch and dauntless will,Sped by a noble discontent,You climb toward the blue firmament,—Climb as the winds climb, mounting highThe viewless ladders of the sky;Spurning our lower atmosphere,Heavy with sighs and dense with night,And urging upward year by yearTo ampler air, diviner light.
“Farther horizons every year!”Beneath you pass the tribes of men,Your gracious boughs o’ershadow them;You hear, but do not seem to heedTheir jarring speech, their faulty creed.Your roots are firmly set in soilWon from their humming paths of toil;Content their lives to watch and share,To serve them, shelter, and upbear,Yet bent to win an upward wayAnd larger gift of heaven than they,Benignant view and attitude,Close knowledge of celestial sign,Still working for all earthly goodWhile pressing on to the Divine.
“Farther horizons every year!”So he, by reverent hands just laidBeneath your boughs of wavering shade,Climbed as you climb the upward way,Knowing not boundary or stay.His eyes surcharged with heavenly lights,His senses steeped in heavenly sights,His soul attuned to heavenly keys,How should he pause for rest and ease,Or turn his wingèd feet again,To share the common feasts of men?He blessed them with his word and smile,But still, above their fickle moods,Wooing, constraining him awhile,Beckoned the shining altitudes.
“Farther horizons every year!”To what immeasurable height,What clear irradiance of light,What far and all-transcendent goalHast thou now risen, O steadfast soul!We may not follow with our eyesTo where thy farther pathway lies,Nor guess what vision vast and freeGod keeps in store for souls like thee.But still the pines that bend and waveTheir boughs above thy honored graveShall be thy emblem brave and fit,Firm-rooted in the stalwart sod,Blessing the earth while spurning it,Content with nothing short of God.
Words in this poem
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- dauntless a.
- Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- viewless a.
- Not perceivable by the eye; invisible; unseen.
- jarring a.
- Shaking; disturbing; discordant. [See Jar.]
- upbear v. t.
- To bear up; to raise aloft; to support in an elevated situation; to sustain.
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- irradiance n.
- The act of irradiating; emission of rays of light. [From Irradiant.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- 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,]
- stalwart a.
- Brave; bold; strong; redoubted; daring; vehement; violent. [OE. stalworth, AS. stælwyrth serviceable, probably originally, good at stealing, or worth stealing or taking, and afterwards extended to other causes of estimat]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
May 31, 1882 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, May 31, 1882, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/may-31-1882.html, id L23474.
Form and metre
May 31, 1882 is 60 lines in 4 stanzas of 15 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABBAACCDDEEAFAF yearA · waveB · graveB · earA · hearA · chillC · willC · discontentD · firmamentD · highE · skyE · atmosphereA · nightF · yearA · lightF
- 2 A--BBCC-ADD-E-E yearA · men · them · heedB · creedB · soilC · toilC · share · upbearA · wayD · theyD · attitude · signE · good · divineE
- 3 -AABBCCDDEEFGFG year · laidA · shadeA · wayB · stayB · lightsC · sightsC · keysD · easeD · againE · menE · smileF · moodsG · awhileF · altitudesG
- 4 -AABBCCDDEEFGFG year · heightA · lightA · goalB · soulB · eyesC · liesC · freeD · theeD · waveE · graveE · fitF · sodG · itF · godG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “FARTHER horizons every year!” | 8 | /˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Oh, tossing pines which surge and wave | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Above the poet’s just made grave, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And waken for his sleeping ear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The music that he loved to hear, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Through summer’s sun and winter’s chill, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With purpose stanch and dauntless will, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sped by a noble discontent, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| You climb toward the blue firmament,— | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Climb as the winds climb, mounting high | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The viewless ladders of the sky; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Spurning our lower atmosphere, | 8 | /˘//˘/˘· |
| Heavy with sighs and dense with night, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And urging upward year by year | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To ampler air, diviner light. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| “Farther horizons every year!” | 8 | /˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Beneath you pass the tribes of men, | 8 | ········ |
| Your gracious boughs o’ershadow them; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| You hear, but do not seem to heed | 8 | ········ |
| Their jarring speech, their faulty creed. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Your roots are firmly set in soil | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Won from their humming paths of toil; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Content their lives to watch and share, | 8 | /˘······ |
| To serve them, shelter, and upbear, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Yet bent to win an upward way | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And larger gift of heaven than they, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Benignant view and attitude, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Close knowledge of celestial sign, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Still working for all earthly good | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| While pressing on to the Divine. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| “Farther horizons every year!” | 8 | /˘˘/˘/˘· |
| So he, by reverent hands just laid | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beneath your boughs of wavering shade, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Climbed as you climb the upward way, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Knowing not boundary or stay. | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| His eyes surcharged with heavenly lights, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| His senses steeped in heavenly sights, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His soul attuned to heavenly keys, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| How should he pause for rest and ease, | 8 | ········ |
| Or turn his wingèd feet again, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To share the common feasts of men? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He blessed them with his word and smile, | 8 | ········ |
| But still, above their fickle moods, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wooing, constraining him awhile, | 8 | /˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Beckoned the shining altitudes. | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| “Farther horizons every year!” | 8 | /˘˘/˘/˘· |
| To what immeasurable height, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘· |
| What clear irradiance of light, | 7 | ······· |
| What far and all-transcendent goal | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Hast thou now risen, O steadfast soul! | 9 | ···/˘·/·· |
| We may not follow with our eyes | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| To where thy farther pathway lies, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Nor guess what vision vast and free | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| God keeps in store for souls like thee. | 8 | ········ |
| But still the pines that bend and wave | 8 | ········ |
| Their boughs above thy honored grave | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall be thy emblem brave and fit, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Firm-rooted in the stalwart sod, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Blessing the earth while spurning it, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Content with nothing short of God. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
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