Derelict
The cloudy peril of the seas,The menace of mid-winter days,May break the scented boughs of easeAnd lock the lips of praise,But every sea its harbour knows,And every winter wakes to spring,And every broken song the roseShall yet resing.
But comfortable love once spentMay not re-shape its broken trust,Or find anew the old content,Dishonoured in the dust;No port awaits those tattered sails,No sun rides high above that gloom,Unchronicled those half-told talesShall time entomb.
Words in this poem
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Derelict is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Drinkwater, Derelict, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/derelict.html, id L23065.
Form and metre
Derelict is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABABCDCD seasA · daysB · easeA · praiseB · knowsC · springD · roseC · resingD
- 2 ABABCDCD spentA · trustB · contentA · dustB · sailsC · gloomD · talesC · entombD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The cloudy peril of the seas, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The menace of mid-winter days, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| May break the scented boughs of ease | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And lock the lips of praise, | 6 | ······ |
| But every sea its harbour knows, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And every winter wakes to spring, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And every broken song the rose | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Shall yet resing. | 4 | ···· |
| But comfortable love once spent | 8 | ·/˘˘˘··· |
| May not re-shape its broken trust, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or find anew the old content, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Dishonoured in the dust; | 7 | ˘/˘˘··· |
| No port awaits those tattered sails, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| No sun rides high above that gloom, | 8 | ········ |
| Unchronicled those half-told tales | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Shall time entomb. | 4 | ··˘/ |
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.