The Two Shores
UPON the river’s brink I standBeside the rushing water’s flow,And look from off the shore I know,The safe and dear familiar land,Unto another shore, which liesMist-veiled beneath the crimsoning skies.This is a shore, and that a shore.Does the earth cease, to rise once moreBeyond the river’s span?Ah no! the shores are clasped in one;The same firm earth goes on, goes on,Though hidden for a little spaceFrom eye or tread of man.
Upon another shore we standBeside a darker water’s flow,And catch beyond the earth we knowFaint glimpses of another landDreaming in sunshine, half descriedBeyond the rushing river-tide.It is life here, and life is there:We look from fair things to most fair,The river rolls between;But held and bound and clasped in one,Immortal life goes on, goes on,Though only from the farther strandThe union can be seen.
Words in this poem
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Two Shores 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, The Two Shores, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/the-two-shores.html, id L23451.
Form and metre
The Two Shores is 26 lines in 2 stanzas of 13 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABBACCDDE---E standA · flowB · knowB · landA · liesC · skiesC · shoreD · moreD · spanE · one · on · space · manE
- 2 ABBACCDDE--AE standA · flowB · knowB · landA · descriedC · tideC · thereD · fairD · betweenE · one · on · strandA · seenE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| UPON the river’s brink I stand | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beside the rushing water’s flow, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And look from off the shore I know, | 8 | ········ |
| The safe and dear familiar land, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Unto another shore, which lies | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Mist-veiled beneath the crimsoning skies. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This is a shore, and that a shore. | 8 | ········ |
| Does the earth cease, to rise once more | 8 | ········ |
| Beyond the river’s span? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ah no! the shores are clasped in one; | 8 | ········ |
| The same firm earth goes on, goes on, | 8 | ········ |
| Though hidden for a little space | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From eye or tread of man. | 6 | ······ |
| Upon another shore we stand | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Beside a darker water’s flow, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And catch beyond the earth we know | 8 | ········ |
| Faint glimpses of another land | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Dreaming in sunshine, half descried | 7 | /˘·/··· |
| Beyond the rushing river-tide. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| It is life here, and life is there: | 8 | ········ |
| We look from fair things to most fair, | 8 | ········ |
| The river rolls between; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But held and bound and clasped in one, | 8 | ········ |
| Immortal life goes on, goes on, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Though only from the farther strand | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The union can be seen. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.