Arion
Arion, whose melodic soulTaught the dithyramb to rollLike forest fires, and singOlympian suffering,
Had carried his diviner loreFrom Corinth to the sister shoreWhere Greece could largelier be,Branching o'er Italy.
Then weighted with his glorious nameAnd bags of gold, aboard he came'Mid harsh seafaring menTo Corinth bound again.
The sailors eyed the bags and thought;"The gold is good, the man is naught—And who shall track the waveThat opens for his grave?"
With brawny arms and cruel eyesThey press around him where he liesIn sleep beside his lyre.Hearing the Muses quire.
He waked and saw this wolf-faced DeathBreaking the dream that filled his breathWith inspiration strongOf yet unchanted song.
"Take, take my gold and let me live!"He prayed, as kings do when they giveTheir all with royal will,Holding born kingship still.
To rob the living they refuse,One death or other he must choose,Either the watery pallOr wounds and burial.
"My solemn robe then let me don,Give me high space to stand upon,That dying I may pourA song unsung before."
It pleased them well to grant this prayer,To hear for naught how it might fareWith men who paid their goldFor what a poet sold.
In flowing stole, his eyes aglowWith inward fire, he neared the prowAnd took his god-like stand,The cithara in hand.
The wolfish men all shrank aloof,And feared this singer might be proofAgainst their murderous power,After his lyric hour.
But he, in liberty of song,Fearless of death or other wrong,With full spondaic tollPoured forth his mighty soul:
Poured forth the strain his dream had taught,A nome with lofty passion fraughtSuch as makes battles wonOn fields of Marathon.
The last long vowels trembled thenAs awe within those wolfish men:They said, with mutual stare,Some god was present there.
But lo! Arion leaped on high,Ready, his descant done, to die;Not asking, "Is it well?"Like a pierced eagle fell.
Words in this poem 18
- melodic a.
- Of the nature of melody; relating to, containing, or made up of, melody; melodious. [L. melodicus, Gr. mélodique.]
- dithyramb n.
- A kind of lyric poetry in honor of Bacchus, usually sung by a band of revelers to a flute accompaniment; hence, in general, a poem written in a wild irregular strain. Bentley. [L. dithyrambus, Gr. dithyrambe.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- aboard adv.
- On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car. [Pref. a- on, in + board.]
- seafaring a.
- Following the business of a mariner; as, a seafaring man.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- brawny a.
- Having large, strong muscles; muscular; fleshy; strong.
- quire v. i.
- To sing in concert.
- kingship n.
- The state, office, or dignity of a king; royalty. Landor.
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- aglow adv.
- In a glow; glowing; as, cheeks aglow; the landscape all aglow. [Pref. a- + glow.]
- cithara n.
- An ancient instrument resembling the harp. [L. Cf. Cittern, Guitar.]
- wolfish a.
- Like a wolf; having the qualities or form of a wolf; as, a wolfish visage; wolfish designs.
- spondaic a.
- Or of pertaining to a spondee; consisting of spondees. [L. spondaicus, spondiacus, Gr. spondaïque.]
- nome n.
- A province or political division, as of modern Greece or ancient Egypt; a nomarchy.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- descant v. i.
- To sing a variation or accomplishment. [From descant; n.; or directly fr. OF. descanter, deschanter; L. dis- + cantare to sing.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Arion is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Legend of Jubal and Other Poems (ten poems from The poems of George Eliot, Crowell, 1884, on Wikisource; four from The Spanish Gypsy; The Legend of Jubal and Other Poems, Old and New, Worthington, 1890, Internet Archive spanishgypsylege00elio), Wikisource and Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Eliot, Arion, in The Legend of Jubal and Other Poems (1874), text of Wikisource and Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/eliot-poems/arion.html, id L29782.
Form and metre
Arion is 64 lines in 16 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 13 of its 16 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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.
- 2 AABB loreA · shoreA · beB · italyB
- 3 AA-- nameA · cameA · men · again
- 4 AABB thoughtA · naughtA · waveB · graveB
- 5 AABB eyesA · liesA · lyreB · quireB
- 6 AABB deathA · breathA · strongB · songB
- 7 AABB liveA · giveA · willB · stillB
- 8 AABB refuseA · chooseA · pallB · burialB
- 9 AABB donA · uponA · pourB · beforeB
- 10 AABB prayerA · fareA · goldB · soldB
- 11 AABB aglowA · prowA · standB · handB
- 12 --AA aloof · proof · powerA · hourA
- 13 AABB songA · wrongA · tollB · soulB
- 14 AABB taughtA · fraughtA · wonB · marathonB
- 15 AABB thenA · menA · stareB · thereB
- 16 AABB highA · dieA · wellB · fellB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arion, whose melodic soul | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Taught the dithyramb to roll | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Like forest fires, and sing | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Olympian suffering, | 7 | ˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Had carried his diviner lore | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| From Corinth to the sister shore | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where Greece could largelier be, | 7 | ······· |
| Branching o'er Italy. | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Then weighted with his glorious name | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And bags of gold, aboard he came | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| 'Mid harsh seafaring men | 5 | ··/˘· |
| To Corinth bound again. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The sailors eyed the bags and thought; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "The gold is good, the man is naught— | 8 | ········ |
| And who shall track the wave | 6 | ······ |
| That opens for his grave?" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| With brawny arms and cruel eyes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They press around him where he lies | 8 | ········ |
| In sleep beside his lyre. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Hearing the Muses quire. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| He waked and saw this wolf-faced Death | 8 | ········ |
| Breaking the dream that filled his breath | 8 | /˘······ |
| With inspiration strong | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Of yet unchanted song. | 6 | ······ |
| "Take, take my gold and let me live!" | 8 | ········ |
| He prayed, as kings do when they give | 8 | ········ |
| Their all with royal will, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Holding born kingship still. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| To rob the living they refuse, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| One death or other he must choose, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Either the watery pall | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| Or wounds and burial. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| "My solemn robe then let me don, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Give me high space to stand upon, | 8 | ········ |
| That dying I may pour | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A song unsung before." | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| It pleased them well to grant this prayer, | 8 | ········ |
| To hear for naught how it might fare | 8 | ········ |
| With men who paid their gold | 6 | ······ |
| For what a poet sold. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In flowing stole, his eyes aglow | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| With inward fire, he neared the prow | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| And took his god-like stand, | 6 | ······ |
| The cithara in hand. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The wolfish men all shrank aloof, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And feared this singer might be proof | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Against their murderous power, | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| After his lyric hour. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| But he, in liberty of song, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Fearless of death or other wrong, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| With full spondaic toll | 5 | ····· |
| Poured forth his mighty soul: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Poured forth the strain his dream had taught, | 8 | ········ |
| A nome with lofty passion fraught | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Such as makes battles won | 6 | ···/˘· |
| On fields of Marathon. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The last long vowels trembled then | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As awe within those wolfish men: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They said, with mutual stare, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Some god was present there. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But lo! Arion leaped on high, | 7 | ······· |
| Ready, his descant done, to die; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Not asking, "Is it well?" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Like a pierced eagle fell. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.