The Fires of God IV
Soon was I then to gather bitter shameOf spirit; I had been most wildly proud--Yet in my pride had beenSome little courage, formless as a cloud,Unpiloted save by a vagrant wind,But still an earnest of the bonds that tameThe legionary hates, of sacred loves that leanFrom the high soul of man towards his kind.And all my griefHad been for those I watched go to and froIn uncompassioned woeAlong that little span my unbeliefHad fashioned in my vision as all life.Now even this so little virtue waned,For I became caught up into the strifeThat I had pitied, and my soul was stainedAt last by that most venomous despair,Self-pity.I no longer was awareOf any will to heal the world’s unrest,I suffered as it suffered, and I grewTroubled in all my daily trafficking,Not with the large heroic trouble knownBy proud adventurous men who would atoneWith their own passionate pity for the stingAnd anguish of a world of peril and snares,It was the trouble of a soul in thrallTo mean despairs,Driven about a waste where neither fallOf words from lips of love, nor consolationOf grave eyes comforting, nor ministrationOf hand or heart could pierce the deadly wallOf self--of self,--I was a living shame--A broken purpose. I had stood apartWith pride rebellious and defiant heart,And now my pride had perished in the flame.I cried for succour as a little childMight supplicate whose days are undefiled,--For tutored pride and innocence are one.
To the gloom has wonA gleam of the sunAnd into the barren desolate waysA scent is blownAs of meadows mownBy cooling rivers in clover days.
Words in this poem
- formless a.
- Shapeless; without a determinate form; wanting regularity of shape.
- legionary a.
- Belonging to a legion; consisting of a legion or legions, or of an indefinitely great number; as, legionary soldiers; a legionary force. [L.legionarius: cf. F. légionnaire.]
- unbelief n.
- The withholding of belief; doubt; incredulity; skepticism. [Pref. un- not + belief: cf. AS. ungeleáfa.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- atone v. t.
- To set at one; to reduce to concord; to reconcile, as parties at variance; to appease.
- ministration n.
- The act of ministering; service; ministry. [L. ministratio, fr. ministrare.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- defiant a.
- Full of defiance; bold; insolent; as, a defiant spirit or act. [Cf. F. défiant, p. pr. of défier. See Defy.]
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- mown p. p.
- Cut down by mowing, as grass; deprived of grass by mowing; as, a mown field.
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fires of God IV 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, The Fires of God IV, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-fires-of-god-iv.html, id L23037.
Form and metre
The Fires of God IV is 45 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -A-AB--BCDDCEFEFG-G--HIIHJKJKLLKMNNMOO- shame · proudA · been · cloudA · windB · tame · lean · kindB · griefC · froD · woeD · unbeliefC · lifeE · wanedF · strifeE · stainedF · despairG · pity · awareG · unrest · grew · traffickingH · knownI · atoneI · stingH · snaresJ · thrallK · despairsJ · fallK · consolationL · ministrationL · wallK · shameM · apartN · heartN · flameM · childO · undefiledO · one
- 2 AABCCB wonA · sunA · waysB · blownC · mownC · daysB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Soon was I then to gather bitter shame | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Of spirit; I had been most wildly proud-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Yet in my pride had been | 6 | ······ |
| Some little courage, formless as a cloud, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Unpiloted save by a vagrant wind, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But still an earnest of the bonds that tame | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The legionary hates, of sacred loves that lean | 12 | ·/˘˘˘··/˘··· |
| From the high soul of man towards his kind. | 10 | ·········· |
| And all my grief | 4 | ···· |
| Had been for those I watched go to and fro | 10 | ·········· |
| In uncompassioned woe | 6 | ······ |
| Along that little span my unbelief | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Had fashioned in my vision as all life. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Now even this so little virtue waned, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For I became caught up into the strife | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That I had pitied, and my soul was stained | 10 | ···/······ |
| At last by that most venomous despair, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Self-pity. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| I no longer was aware | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Of any will to heal the world’s unrest, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| I suffered as it suffered, and I grew | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Troubled in all my daily trafficking, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| Not with the large heroic trouble known | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| By proud adventurous men who would atone | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| With their own passionate pity for the sting | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And anguish of a world of peril and snares, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| It was the trouble of a soul in thrall | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To mean despairs, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Driven about a waste where neither fall | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Of words from lips of love, nor consolation | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Of grave eyes comforting, nor ministration | 11 | ···/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Of hand or heart could pierce the deadly wall | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of self--of self,--I was a living shame-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A broken purpose. I had stood apart | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| With pride rebellious and defiant heart, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And now my pride had perished in the flame. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I cried for succour as a little child | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Might supplicate whose days are undefiled,-- | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| For tutored pride and innocence are one. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| To the gloom has won | 5 | ····· |
| A gleam of the sun | 5 | ····· |
| And into the barren desolate ways | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| A scent is blown | 4 | ···· |
| As of meadows mown | 5 | ··/·· |
| By cooling rivers in clover days. | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
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.