Unexhausted
ARE all the songs sung, all the music played?Are the keys quite worn out, and soundless quite,Which since sweet fancy’s dawning day have madePerpetual melody for man’s delight,And charmed the dull day and the heavy night?
Must we go on with stale, repeated themes,Content with threadbare chords that faint and fail,Till all the fairy fabric of old dreamsBecomes a jaded, oft-repeated tale,And poetry grows tired, and romance pale?
I cannot think it; for the soul of manIs strung to answer to such myriad keysSet and attuned and chorded on a planOf intricate and vibrant harmonies,How shall we limit that, or measure these?
As free and urgent as the air that moves,As quick to tremble as Æolian strings,The soul responds and thrills to hates and loves,Desires and hopes, and joys and sufferings,And sympathy’s soft touch and anger’s stings.
How dare we say the breezes all are blown,The chords have no reserved sweet in store;Or claim that all is tested and made known,—That nightingales may trill, or skylarks soar,But neither can surprise us any more?
The world we call so old, God names his new;The thought we christen stale shall outlast men,While moons shall haunt the sky, and stars gleam through,While roses blossom on their thorny stem,And spring comes back again, and yet again;
While human things like blossoms small and whiteAre dropped on earth from unseen parent skies,The olden dreams shall please, the songs delight,And those who shape and weave fair fantasiesShall catch the answering shine in new-born eyes.
Words in this poem
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- threadbare a.
- Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- vibrant a.
- Vibrating; tremulous; resonant; as, vibrant drums. [L. vibrans, p. pr.: cf. F. vibrant. See Vibrate.]
- 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,]
- christen v. t.
- To baptize and give a Christian name to. [AS. cristnian to make a Christian, fr. cristen a Christian.]
- outlast v. t.
- To exceed in duration; to survive; to endure longer than.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Unexhausted 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, Unexhausted, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/unexhausted.html, id L23483.
Form and metre
Unexhausted is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABABB playedA · quiteB · madeA · delightB · nightB
- 2 ABABB themesA · failB · dreamsA · taleB · paleB
- 3 ABABB manA · keysB · planA · harmoniesB · theseB
- 4 -A-AA moves · stringsA · loves · sufferingsA · stingsA
- 5 ABABB blownA · storeB · knownA · soarB · moreB
- 6 ABA-B newA · menB · throughA · stem · againB
- 7 ABABB whiteA · skiesB · delightA · fantasiesB · eyesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ARE all the songs sung, all the music played? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Are the keys quite worn out, and soundless quite, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which since sweet fancy’s dawning day have made | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Perpetual melody for man’s delight, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| And charmed the dull day and the heavy night? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Must we go on with stale, repeated themes, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Content with threadbare chords that faint and fail, | 10 | ˘/·/······ |
| Till all the fairy fabric of old dreams | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Becomes a jaded, oft-repeated tale, | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And poetry grows tired, and romance pale? | 10 | ·/˘˘·/·/˘· |
| I cannot think it; for the soul of man | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Is strung to answer to such myriad keys | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Set and attuned and chorded on a plan | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Of intricate and vibrant harmonies, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| How shall we limit that, or measure these? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As free and urgent as the air that moves, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As quick to tremble as Æolian strings, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The soul responds and thrills to hates and loves, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Desires and hopes, and joys and sufferings, | 11 | ˘/˘·····/˘˘ |
| And sympathy’s soft touch and anger’s stings. | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| How dare we say the breezes all are blown, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The chords have no reserved sweet in store; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Or claim that all is tested and made known,— | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That nightingales may trill, or skylarks soar, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/·· |
| But neither can surprise us any more? | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| The world we call so old, God names his new; | 10 | ·········· |
| The thought we christen stale shall outlast men, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| While moons shall haunt the sky, and stars gleam through, | 10 | ·········· |
| While roses blossom on their thorny stem, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And spring comes back again, and yet again; | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| While human things like blossoms small and white | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Are dropped on earth from unseen parent skies, | 10 | ·····˘//˘· |
| The olden dreams shall please, the songs delight, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And those who shape and weave fair fantasies | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Shall catch the answering shine in new-born eyes. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.