Southampton Bells
Long ago some builder thrustHeavenward in Southampton townHis spire and beamed his bells,Largely conceiving from the dustThat pinnacle for ringing downOrisons and Noëls.
In his imagination rang,Through generations challengingHis peal on simple men,Who, as the heart within him sang,In daily townfaring should singBy year and year again.
Now often to their ringing goThe bellmen with lean Time at heel,Intent on daily cares;The bells ring high, the bells ring low,The ringers ring the builder’s pealOf tidings unawares.
And all the bells’ might well be dumbFor any quickening in the streetOf customary ears;And so at last proud builders comeWith dreams and virtues to defeatAmong the clouding years.
Now, waiting on Southampton seaFor exile, through the silver nightI hear Noël! Noël!Through generations down to meYour challenge, builder, comes aright,Bell by obedient bell.
You wake an hour with me; then wideThough be the lapses of your sleepYou yet shall wake again;And thus, old builder, on the tideOf immortality you keepYour way from brain to brain.
Words in this poem
- beamed a.
- Furnished with beams, as the head of a stag.
- pinnacle n.
- An architectural member, upright, and generally ending in a small spire, -- used to finish a buttress, to constitute a part in a proportion, as where pinnacles flank a gable or spire, and the like. [OE. pinacle, F. pinacle, L. pinnaculum, fr. pinna pinnacle, feather. See Pin a peg.]
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- clouding n.
- A mottled appearance given to ribbons and silks in the process of dyeing.
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- 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
Southampton Bells 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, Southampton Bells, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/southampton-bells.html, id L23014.
Form and metre
Southampton Bells is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCABC, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABCABC thrustA · townB · bellsC · dustA · downB · noëlsC
- 2 AABAAB rangA · challengingA · menB · sangA · singA · againB
- 3 ABCABC goA · heelB · caresC · lowA · pealB · unawaresC
- 4 ABCABC dumbA · streetB · earsC · comeA · defeatB · yearsC
- 5 AB-AB- seaA · nightB · noël · meA · arightB · bell
- 6 ABCABC wideA · sleepB · againC · tideA · keepB · brainC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Long ago some builder thrust | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Heavenward in Southampton town | 8 | /˘˘·˘/˘· |
| His spire and beamed his bells, | 6 | ······ |
| Largely conceiving from the dust | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| That pinnacle for ringing down | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Orisons and Noëls. | 5 | ····· |
| In his imagination rang, | 8 | ··˘·˘/˘· |
| Through generations challenging | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| His peal on simple men, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who, as the heart within him sang, | 8 | ········ |
| In daily townfaring should sing | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By year and year again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Now often to their ringing go | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The bellmen with lean Time at heel, | 8 | ········ |
| Intent on daily cares; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| The bells ring high, the bells ring low, | 8 | ········ |
| The ringers ring the builder’s peal | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of tidings unawares. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And all the bells’ might well be dumb | 8 | ········ |
| For any quickening in the street | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of customary ears; | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| And so at last proud builders come | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With dreams and virtues to defeat | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Among the clouding years. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now, waiting on Southampton sea | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| For exile, through the silver night | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| I hear Noël! Noël! | 4 | ···· |
| Through generations down to me | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Your challenge, builder, comes aright, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Bell by obedient bell. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| You wake an hour with me; then wide | 8 | ···/···· |
| Though be the lapses of your sleep | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You yet shall wake again; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And thus, old builder, on the tide | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of immortality you keep | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Your way from brain to brain. | 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.