To learn the transport by the pain
To learn the transport by the pain,As blind men learn the sun;To die of thirst, suspectingThat brooks in meadows run;
To stay the homesick, homesick feetUpon a foreign shoreHaunted by native lands, the while,And blue, beloved air --
This is the sovereign anguish,This, the signal woe!These are the patient laureatesWhose voices, trained below,
Ascend in ceaseless carol,Inaudible, indeed,To us, the duller scholarsOf the mysterious bard!
Words in this poem
- homesick a.
- Pining for home; in a nostalgic condition.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- carol v. t.
- To praise or celebrate in song.
- inaudible a.
- Not audible; incapable of being heard; silent. [L. inaudibilis; pref. in- not + audire to hear: cf. F. unaudible. See In- not, and Audible.]
- duller n.
- One who, or that which, dulls.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To learn the transport by the pain is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, To learn the transport by the pain, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/to-learn-the-transport-by-the-pain.html, id L18961.
Form and metre
To learn the transport by the pain is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 pain · sunA · suspecting · runA
- 3 -A-A anguish · woeA · laureates · belowA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| To learn the transport by the pain, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| As blind men learn the sun; | 6 | ······ |
| To die of thirst, suspecting | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| That brooks in meadows run; | 6 | ···/·· |
| To stay the homesick, homesick feet | 8 | ···/·/·· |
| Upon a foreign shore | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Haunted by native lands, the while, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And blue, beloved air -- | 5 | ··˘/· |
| This is the sovereign anguish, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| This, the signal woe! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| These are the patient laureates | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Whose voices, trained below, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ascend in ceaseless carol, | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Inaudible, indeed, | 6 | ˘/˘˘˘/ |
| To us, the duller scholars | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Of the mysterious bard! | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
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.