The Fires of God V
I turned me from that place in humble wise,And fingers soft were laid upon mine eyes,And I beheld the fruitful earth, with storeOf odorous treasure, full and golden grain,Ripe orchard bounty, slender stalks that boreTheir flowered beauty with a meek content,The prosperous leaves that loved the sun and rain,Shy creatures unreproved that came and wentIn garrulous joy among the fostering green.And, over all, the changes of the dayAnd ordered year their mutable glory laid--Expectant winter soberly arrayed,The prudent diligent spring whose eyes have seenThe beauty of the roses uncreate,Imperial June, magnificent, elateBeholding all the ripening loves that strayAmong her blossoms, and the golden timeOf the full ear and bounty of the boughs,--And the great hills and solemn chanting seasAnd prodigal meadows, answering to the chimeOf God’s good year, and bearing on their browsThe glory of processional mysteriesFrom dawn to dawn, the woven leaves and lightOf the high noon, the twilight secrecies,And the inscrutable wonder of the starsFlung out along the reaches of the night.
And the ancient mightOf the binding barsWaned as I woke to a new desireFor the choric songOf exultant, strongEarth-passionate men with souls of fire.
Words in this poem
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- unreproved a.
- Not reproved. Sandys.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- garrulous a.
- Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative; loquacious. [L. garrulus, fr. garrire to chatter, talk; cf. Gr. Call.]
- soberly a.
- Grave; serious; solemn; sad.
- uncreate v. t.
- To deprive of existence; to annihilate. [1st pref. un- + create.]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- beholding a.
- Obliged; beholden.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- processional a.
- Of or pertaining to a procession; consisting in a procession.
- choric a.
- Of or pertaining to a chorus.
- exultant a.
- Inclined to exult; characterized by, or expressing, exultation; rejoicing triumphantly. [L. exsultans, exsultantis, p. pr. of exsultare. See Exult.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fires of God V 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 V, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-fires-of-god-v.html, id L23038.
Form and metre
The Fires of God V is 32 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 AABCBDCDEFGGEHHFIJ-IJJKJ-K wiseA · eyesA · storeB · grainC · boreB · contentD · rainC · wentD · greenE · dayF · laidG · arrayedG · seenE · uncreateH · elateH · strayF · timeI · boughsJ · seas · chimeI · browsJ · mysteriesJ · lightK · secreciesJ · stars · nightK
- 2 --ABBA might · bars · desireA · songB · strongB · fireA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I turned me from that place in humble wise, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And fingers soft were laid upon mine eyes, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And I beheld the fruitful earth, with store | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Of odorous treasure, full and golden grain, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ripe orchard bounty, slender stalks that bore | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Their flowered beauty with a meek content, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| The prosperous leaves that loved the sun and rain, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Shy creatures unreproved that came and went | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In garrulous joy among the fostering green. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And, over all, the changes of the day | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And ordered year their mutable glory laid-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Expectant winter soberly arrayed, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| The prudent diligent spring whose eyes have seen | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The beauty of the roses uncreate, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Imperial June, magnificent, elate | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Beholding all the ripening loves that stray | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Among her blossoms, and the golden time | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of the full ear and bounty of the boughs,-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And the great hills and solemn chanting seas | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And prodigal meadows, answering to the chime | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| Of God’s good year, and bearing on their brows | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The glory of processional mysteries | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| From dawn to dawn, the woven leaves and light | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of the high noon, the twilight secrecies, | 10 | ·····/·/˘˘ |
| And the inscrutable wonder of the stars | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Flung out along the reaches of the night. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And the ancient might | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of the binding bars | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Waned as I woke to a new desire | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| For the choric song | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of exultant, strong | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| Earth-passionate men with souls of fire. | 10 | ·/˘˘····/˘ |
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.