The Fires of God VI
’T was given me to hear. As I beheld--With a new wisdom, tranquil, asking notFor mystic revelation--this glory long forgot,This re-discovered triumph of the earthIn high creative will and beauty’s prideEstablishèd beyond the assaulting years,It came to me, a music that compelledSurrender of all tributary fears,Full-throated, fierce, and rhythmic with the wideBeat of the pilgrim winds and labouring seas,Sent up from all the harbouring ways of earthWherein the travelling feet of men have trod,Mounting the firmamental silencesAnd challenging the golden gates of God.
We bear the burden of the yearsClean limbed, clear-hearted, open-browed,Albeit sacramental tearsHave dimmed our eyes, we know the proudContent of men who sweep unbowedBefore the legionary fears;In sorrow we have grown to beThe masters of adversity.
Wise of the storied ages we,Of perils dared and crosses borne,Of heroes bound by no decreeOf laws defiled or faiths outworn,Of poets who have held in scornAll mean and tyrannous things that be;We prophesy with lips that spedThe songs of the prophetic dead.
Wise of the brief belovèd spanOf this our glad earth-travelling,Of beauty’s bloom and ordered plan,Of love and loves compassioning,Of all the dear delights that springFrom man’s communion with man;We cherish every hour that straysAdown the cataract of the days.
We see the clear untroubled skies,We see the summer of the roseAnd laugh, nor grieve that clouds will riseAnd wax with every wind that blows,Nor that the blossoming time will close,For beauty seen of humble eyesImmortal habitation hasThough beauty’s form may pale and pass.
Wise of the great unshapen age,To which we move with measured treadAll girt with passionate truth to wageHigh battle for the word unsaid,The song unsung, the cause unled,The freedom that no hope can gauge;Strong-armed, sure-footed, iron-willedWe sift and weave, we break and build.
Into one hour we gather allThe years gone down, the years unwroughtUpon our ears brave measures fallAcross uncharted spaces brought,Upon our lips the words are caughtWherewith the dead the unborn call;From love to love, from height to heightWe press and none may curb our might.
Words in this poem 16
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- firmamental a.
- Pertaining to the firmament; celestial; being of the upper regions.
- limbed a.
- Having limbs; -- much used in composition; as, large-limbed; short-limbed.
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- unbowed a.
- Not bent or arched; not bowed down. [Pref. un- not + bowed.]
- 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.]
- adversity n.
- Opposition; contrariety. Wyclif. [OE. adversite, F. adversité, fr. L. adversitas.]
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- tyrannous a.
- Tyrannical; arbitrary; unjustly severe; despotic. Sir P.
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- unshapen a.
- Not shaped; shapeless; misshapen; deformed; ugly. [Pref. un- not + shaped, shapen.]
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- unborn a.
- Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fires of God VI 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 VI, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-fires-of-god-vi.html, id L23039.
Form and metre
The Fires of God VI is 62 lines in 7 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABBACC, in 3 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABBCDEAEDFCGFG beheldA · notB · forgotB · earthC · prideD · yearsE · compelledA · fearsE · wideD · seasF · earthC · trodG · silencesF · godG
- 2 ABABBA-- yearsA · browedB · tearsA · proudB · unbowedB · fearsA · be · adversity
- 3 ABABBACC weA · borneB · decreeA · outwornB · scornB · beA · spedC · deadC
- 4 ABABBACC spanA · travellingB · planA · compassioningB · springB · manA · straysC · daysC
- 5 ABABBA-- skiesA · roseB · riseA · blowsB · closeB · eyesA · has · pass
- 6 ABAB-ACC ageA · treadB · wageA · unsaidB · unled · gaugeA · willedC · buildC
- 7 ABABBACC allA · unwroughtB · fallA · broughtB · caughtB · callA · heightC · mightC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ’T was given me to hear. As I beheld-- | 10 | ··/·····˘/ |
| With a new wisdom, tranquil, asking not | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| For mystic revelation--this glory long forgot, | 13 | ·/˘·˘/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| This re-discovered triumph of the earth | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| In high creative will and beauty’s pride | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Establishèd beyond the assaulting years, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| It came to me, a music that compelled | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Surrender of all tributary fears, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘· |
| Full-throated, fierce, and rhythmic with the wide | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Beat of the pilgrim winds and labouring seas, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sent up from all the harbouring ways of earth | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Wherein the travelling feet of men have trod, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Mounting the firmamental silences | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| And challenging the golden gates of God. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| We bear the burden of the years | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Clean limbed, clear-hearted, open-browed, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Albeit sacramental tears | 8 | ˘/˘/˘˘˘· |
| Have dimmed our eyes, we know the proud | 8 | ··/····· |
| Content of men who sweep unbowed | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Before the legionary fears; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| In sorrow we have grown to be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The masters of adversity. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Wise of the storied ages we, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of perils dared and crosses borne, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of heroes bound by no decree | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Of laws defiled or faiths outworn, | 8 | ········ |
| Of poets who have held in scorn | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All mean and tyrannous things that be; | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| We prophesy with lips that sped | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The songs of the prophetic dead. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Wise of the brief belovèd span | 7 | ······· |
| Of this our glad earth-travelling, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of beauty’s bloom and ordered plan, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of love and loves compassioning, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Of all the dear delights that spring | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| From man’s communion with man; | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| We cherish every hour that strays | 8 | ·/˘/˘/·· |
| Adown the cataract of the days. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| We see the clear untroubled skies, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| We see the summer of the rose | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And laugh, nor grieve that clouds will rise | 8 | ········ |
| And wax with every wind that blows, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor that the blossoming time will close, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For beauty seen of humble eyes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Immortal habitation has | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Though beauty’s form may pale and pass. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wise of the great unshapen age, | 8 | ········ |
| To which we move with measured tread | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All girt with passionate truth to wage | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| High battle for the word unsaid, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The song unsung, the cause unled, | 8 | ··˘/···˘ |
| The freedom that no hope can gauge; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Strong-armed, sure-footed, iron-willed | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| We sift and weave, we break and build. | 8 | ········ |
| Into one hour we gather all | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| The years gone down, the years unwrought | 8 | ········ |
| Upon our ears brave measures fall | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| Across uncharted spaces brought, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Upon our lips the words are caught | 8 | ··/····· |
| Wherewith the dead the unborn call; | 8 | ˘/···//· |
| From love to love, from height to height | 8 | ········ |
| We press and none may curb our might. | 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.