Dominion
I went beneath the sunny skyWhen all things bowed to June’s desire,--The pansy with its steadfast eye,The blue shells on the lupin spire,
The swelling fruit along the boughs,The grass grown heady in the rain,Dark roses fitted for the browsOf queens great kings have sung in vain;
My little cat with tiger bars,Bright claws all hidden in content;Swift birds that flashed like darkling starsAcross the cloudy continent;
The wiry-coated fellow curledStump-tailed upon the sunny flags;The bees that sacked a coloured worldOf treasure for their honey-bags.
And all these things seemed very glad,The sun, the flowers, the birds on wing,The jolly beasts, the furry-cladFat bees, the fruit, and everything.
But gladder than them all was I,Who, being man, might gather upThe joy of all beneath the sky,And add their treasure to my cup,
And travel every shining way,And laugh with God in God’s delight,Create a world for every day,And store a dream for every night.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- heady a.
- Willful; rash; precipitate; hurried on by will or passion; ungovernable. [From Head.]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- gladder n.
- One who makes glad.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dominion 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, Dominion, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/dominion.html, id L23090.
Form and metre
Dominion is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 A-A- skyA · desire · eyeA · spire
- 2 ABAB boughsA · rainB · browsA · vainB
- 3 A-A- barsA · content · starsA · continent
- 4 ABAB curledA · flagsB · worldA · bagsB
- 5 ABAB gladA · wingB · cladA · everythingB
- 6 ABAB iA · upB · skyA · cupB
- 7 ABAB wayA · delightB · dayA · nightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I went beneath the sunny sky | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When all things bowed to June’s desire,-- | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| The pansy with its steadfast eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| The blue shells on the lupin spire, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The swelling fruit along the boughs, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The grass grown heady in the rain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Dark roses fitted for the brows | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of queens great kings have sung in vain; | 8 | ········ |
| My little cat with tiger bars, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Bright claws all hidden in content; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Swift birds that flashed like darkling stars | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Across the cloudy continent; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| The wiry-coated fellow curled | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Stump-tailed upon the sunny flags; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The bees that sacked a coloured world | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of treasure for their honey-bags. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And all these things seemed very glad, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sun, the flowers, the birds on wing, | 8 | ···/···· |
| The jolly beasts, the furry-clad | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Fat bees, the fruit, and everything. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But gladder than them all was I, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who, being man, might gather up | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The joy of all beneath the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| And add their treasure to my cup, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And travel every shining way, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And laugh with God in God’s delight, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Create a world for every day, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And store a dream for every night. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.