From the Porch at Runnymede
I stand above the city's rush and din,And gaze far down with calm and undimmed eyes,To where the misty smoke wreath grey and dimAbove the myriad roofs and spires rise;
Still is my heart and vacant is my breath--This lovely view is breath and life to me,Why I could charm the icy soul of deathWith such a sight as this I stand and see.
I hear no sound of labor's din or stir,I feel no weight of worldly cares or fears,Sweet song of birds, of wings the soothing whirr,These sounds alone assail my listening ears.
Unwhipt of conscience here I stand alone,The breezes humbly kiss my garment's hem;I am a king--the whole world is my throne,The blue grey sky my royal diadem.
Words in this poem
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- whirr v. i.
- To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From the Porch at Runnymede 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, From the Porch at Runnymede, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/from-the-porch-at-runnymede.html, id L00880.
Form and metre
From the Porch at Runnymede is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 12% 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 -A-A din · eyesA · dim · riseA
- 2 ABAB breathA · meB · deathA · seeB
- 3 ABAB stirA · fearsB · whirrA · earsB
- 4 ABAB aloneA · hemB · throneA · diademB
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 stand above the city's rush and din, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And gaze far down with calm and undimmed eyes, | 10 | ·········· |
| To where the misty smoke wreath grey and dim | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Above the myriad roofs and spires rise; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Still is my heart and vacant is my breath-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This lovely view is breath and life to me, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Why I could charm the icy soul of death | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With such a sight as this I stand and see. | 10 | ·········· |
| I hear no sound of labor's din or stir, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I feel no weight of worldly cares or fears, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sweet song of birds, of wings the soothing whirr, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| These sounds alone assail my listening ears. | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Unwhipt of conscience here I stand alone, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The breezes humbly kiss my garment's hem; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| I am a king--the whole world is my throne, | 10 | ·········· |
| The blue grey sky my royal diadem. | 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.