Forerunners
Long I followed happy guides,I could never reach their sides;Their step is forth, and, ere the dayBreaks up their leaguer, and away.Keen my sense, my heart was young,Right good-will my sinews strung,But no speed of mine availsTo hunt upon their shining trails.On and away, their hasting feetMake the morning proud and sweet;Flowers they strew,--I catch the scent;Or tone of silver instrumentLeaves on the wind melodious trace;Yet I could never see their face.On eastern hills I see their smokes,Mixed with mist by distant lochs.I met many travellersWho the road had surely kept;They saw not my fine revellers,--These had crossed them while they slept.Some had heard their fair report,In the country or the court.Fleetest couriers aliveNever yet could once arrive,As they went or they returned,At the house where these sojourned.Sometimes their strong speed they slacken,Though they are not overtaken;In sleep their jubilant troop is near,--I tuneful voices overhear;It may be in wood or waste,--At unawares 't is come and past.Their near camp my spirit knowsBy signs gracious as rainbows.I thenceforward and long afterListen for their harp-like laughter,And carry in my heart, for days,Peace that hallows rudest ways.
Words in this poem
- leaguer v. t.
- To besiege; to beleaguer.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- jubilant a.
- Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting. [L. jubilans, -antis, p. pr. of jubilare to shout for joy: cf. F. jubila. See Jubilate.]
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- overhear v. t.
- To hear more of (anything) than was intended to be heard; to hear by accident or artifice. [AS. oferhiéran.]
- thenceforward adv.
- From that time onward; thenceforth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Forerunners 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, Forerunners, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/forerunners.html, id L07408.
Form and metre
Forerunners is 38 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG---H-HIIJJKK--LL--MMNNOO guidesA · sidesA · dayB · awayB · youngC · strungC · availsD · trailsD · feetE · sweetE · scentF · instrumentF · traceG · faceG · smokes · lochs · travellers · keptH · revellers · sleptH · reportI · courtI · aliveJ · arriveJ · returnedK · sojournedK · slacken · overtaken · nearL · overhearL · waste · past · knowsM · rainbowsM · afterN · laughterN · daysO · waysO
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Long I followed happy guides, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| I could never reach their sides; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Their step is forth, and, ere the day | 8 | ········ |
| Breaks up their leaguer, and away. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Keen my sense, my heart was young, | 7 | ······· |
| Right good-will my sinews strung, | 7 | ······· |
| But no speed of mine avails | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To hunt upon their shining trails. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On and away, their hasting feet | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Make the morning proud and sweet; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Flowers they strew,--I catch the scent; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Or tone of silver instrument | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Leaves on the wind melodious trace; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Yet I could never see their face. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On eastern hills I see their smokes, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Mixed with mist by distant lochs. | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| I met many travellers | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Who the road had surely kept; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They saw not my fine revellers,-- | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| These had crossed them while they slept. | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Some had heard their fair report, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| In the country or the court. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fleetest couriers alive | 7 | /˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Never yet could once arrive, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| As they went or they returned, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| At the house where these sojourned. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Sometimes their strong speed they slacken, | 8 | /·····/˘ |
| Though they are not overtaken; | 8 | ····/˘·˘ |
| In sleep their jubilant troop is near,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I tuneful voices overhear; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘/ |
| It may be in wood or waste,-- | 7 | ······· |
| At unawares 't is come and past. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| Their near camp my spirit knows | 7 | ····/˘· |
| By signs gracious as rainbows. | 7 | ··/˘·/· |
| I thenceforward and long after | 9 | ········· |
| Listen for their harp-like laughter, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| And carry in my heart, for days, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Peace that hallows rudest ways. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
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.