Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,Which all the day with ceaseless care have soughtThe magic gold which from the seeker flies;Ere dreams put on the gown and cap of thought,And make the waking world a world of lies,--Of lies most palpable, uncouth, forlorn,That say life's full of aches and tears and sighs,--Oh, how with more than dreams the soul is torn,Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,How all the griefs and heart-aches we have knownCome up like pois'nous vapors that ariseFrom some base witch's caldron, when the crone,To work some potent spell, her magic plies.The past which held its share of bitter pain,Whose ghost we prayed that Time might exorcise,Comes up, is lived and suffered o'er again,Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,What phantoms fill the dimly lighted room;What ghostly shades in awe-creating guiseAre bodied forth within the teeming gloom.What echoes faint of sad and soul-sick cries,And pangs of vague inexplicable painThat pay the spirit's ceaseless enterprise,Come thronging through the chambers of the brain,Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,Where ranges forth the spirit far and free?Through what strange realms and unfamiliar skiesTends her far course to lands of mystery?To lands unspeakable--beyond surmise,Where shapes unknowable to being spring,Till, faint of wing, the Fancy fails and diesMuch wearied with the spirit's journeying,Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,How questioneth the soul that other soul,--The inner sense which neither cheats nor lies,But self exposes unto self, a scrollFull writ with all life's acts unwise or wise,In characters indelible and known;So, trembling with the shock of sad surprise,The soul doth view its awful self alone,Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes,The last dear sleep whose soft embrace is balm,And whom sad sorrow teaches us to prizeFor kissing all our passions into calm,Ah, then, no more we heed the sad world's cries,Or seek to probe th' eternal mystery,Or fret our souls at long-withheld replies,At glooms through which our visions cannot see,When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes.
Words in this poem
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- caldron n.
- A large kettle or boiler of copper, brass, or iron. [OE. caldron, caudron, caudroun, OF. caudron, chauderon, F. chaudron, an aug. of F. chaudière, LL. caldaria, fr. L. caldarius suitable for warming, fr. caldus, c]
- crone n.
- An old ewe. Tusser. [OD. kronie, karonie, an old sheep, OF. carogne, F. charogne, carrion (also F. carogne illnatured woman.). See Carrion, and Crony.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/ere-sleep-comes-down-to-soothe-the-weary-eyes.html, id L00481.
Form and metre
Ere Sleep Comes Down to Soothe the Weary Eyes is 54 lines in 6 stanzas of 9 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABACACA, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABACACA eyesA · soughtB · fliesA · thoughtB · liesA · forlornC · sighsA · tornC · eyesA
- 2 ABABACACA eyesA · knownB · ariseA · croneB · pliesA · painC · exorciseA · againC · eyesA
- 3 ABABACACA eyesA · roomB · guiseA · gloomB · criesA · painC · enterpriseA · brainC · eyesA
- 4 A-A-ABABA eyesA · free · skiesA · mystery · surmiseA · springB · diesA · journeyingB · eyesA
- 5 ABABACACA eyesA · soulB · liesA · scrollB · wiseA · knownC · surpriseA · aloneC · eyesA
- 6 ABABA-A-A eyesA · balmB · prizeA · calmB · criesA · mystery · repliesA · see · eyesA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which all the day with ceaseless care have sought | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The magic gold which from the seeker flies; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Ere dreams put on the gown and cap of thought, | 10 | ·········· |
| And make the waking world a world of lies,-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of lies most palpable, uncouth, forlorn, | 9 | ···/˘//˘/ |
| That say life's full of aches and tears and sighs,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Oh, how with more than dreams the soul is torn, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How all the griefs and heart-aches we have known | 10 | ·········· |
| Come up like pois'nous vapors that arise | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| From some base witch's caldron, when the crone, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To work some potent spell, her magic plies. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The past which held its share of bitter pain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whose ghost we prayed that Time might exorcise, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Comes up, is lived and suffered o'er again, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| What phantoms fill the dimly lighted room; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| What ghostly shades in awe-creating guise | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Are bodied forth within the teeming gloom. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| What echoes faint of sad and soul-sick cries, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And pangs of vague inexplicable pain | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| That pay the spirit's ceaseless enterprise, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Come thronging through the chambers of the brain, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where ranges forth the spirit far and free? | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| Through what strange realms and unfamiliar skies | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Tends her far course to lands of mystery? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To lands unspeakable--beyond surmise, | 9 | ··˘/˘··˘/ |
| Where shapes unknowable to being spring, | 8 | ··˘/˘·/· |
| Till, faint of wing, the Fancy fails and dies | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Much wearied with the spirit's journeying, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How questioneth the soul that other soul,-- | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| The inner sense which neither cheats nor lies, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| But self exposes unto self, a scroll | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Full writ with all life's acts unwise or wise, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| In characters indelible and known; | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| So, trembling with the shock of sad surprise, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The soul doth view its awful self alone, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The last dear sleep whose soft embrace is balm, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And whom sad sorrow teaches us to prize | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For kissing all our passions into calm, | 10 | ·/˘·//˘··· |
| Ah, then, no more we heed the sad world's cries, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or seek to probe th' eternal mystery, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Or fret our souls at long-withheld replies, | 10 | ··/···˘/˘/ |
| At glooms through which our visions cannot see, | 10 | ····//˘/˘· |
| When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes. | 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.