Brahma
If the red slayer think he slays,Or if the slain think he is slain,They know not well the subtle waysI keep, and pass, and turn again.
Far or forgot to me is near;Shadow and sunlight are the same;The vanished gods to me appear;And one to me are shame and fame.
They reckon ill who leave me out;When me they fly, I am the wings;I am the doubter and the doubt,And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
The strong gods pine for my abode,And pine in vain the sacred Seven;But thou, meek lover of the good!Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.
Words in this poem
- slayer n.
- One who slays; a killer; a murderer; a destrroyer of life.
- doubter n.
- One who doubts; one whose opinion is unsettled; one who scruples.
- brahmin n.
- A person of the highest or sacerdotal caste among the Hindoos.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Brahma is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Brahma, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/brahma.html, id L07441.
Form and metre
Brahma 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 tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB slaysA · slainB · waysA · againB
- 2 ABAB nearA · sameB · appearA · fameB
- 3 ABAB outA · wingsB · doubtA · singsB
- 4 -A-A abode · sevenA · good · heavenA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If the red slayer think he slays, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or if the slain think he is slain, | 8 | ········ |
| They know not well the subtle ways | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I keep, and pass, and turn again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Far or forgot to me is near; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Shadow and sunlight are the same; | 8 | /··/···· |
| The vanished gods to me appear; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And one to me are shame and fame. | 8 | ········ |
| They reckon ill who leave me out; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When me they fly, I am the wings; | 8 | ········ |
| I am the doubter and the doubt, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And I the hymn the Brahmin sings. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The strong gods pine for my abode, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And pine in vain the sacred Seven; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| But thou, meek lover of the good! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Find me, and turn thy back on heaven. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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.