Song of Seyd Nimetollah of Kuhistan
Spin the ball! I reel, I burn,Nor head from foot can I discern,Nor my heart from love of mine,Nor the wine-cup from the wine.All my doing, all my leaving,Reaches not to my perceiving;Lost in whirling spheres I rove,And know only that I love.
I am seeker of the stone,Living gem of Solomon;From the shore of souls arrived,In the sea of sense I dived;But what is land, or what is wave,To me who only jewels crave?Love is the air-fed fire intense,And my heart the frankincense;As the rich aloes flames, I glow,Yet the censer cannot know.I'm all-knowing, yet unknowing;Stand not, pause not, in my going.
Ask not me, as Muftis can,To recite the Alcoran;Well I love the meaning sweet,--I tread the book beneath my feet.
Lo! the God's love blazes higher,Till all difference expire.What are Moslems? what are Giaours?All are Love's, and all are ours.I embrace the true believers,But I reck not of deceivers.Firm to Heaven my bosom clings,Heedless of inferior things;Down on earth there, underfoot,What men chatter know I not.
Words in this poem
- solomon n.
- One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- censer n.
- A vessel for perfumes; esp. one in which incense is burned. [For incenser, fr. OF. encensier, F. encensoir, fr. LL. incensarium, incensorium, fr. L. incensum incense. See Incense, and cf. Incensory.]
- alcoran n.
- The Mohammedan Scriptures; the Koran (now the usual form). [alcoran, fr. Ar. al-qoran, orig. the reading, the book, fr. qaraa to read. Cf. Koran.]
- reck v. t.
- To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
- underfoot adv.
- Under the feet; underneath; below. See Under foot, under Foot, n.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of Seyd Nimetollah of Kuhistan 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, Song of Seyd Nimetollah of Kuhistan, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/song-of-seyd-nimetollah-of-kuhistan.html, id L07537.
Form and metre
Song of Seyd Nimetollah of Kuhistan is 34 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 AABBCC-- burnA · discernA · mineB · wineB · leavingC · perceivingC · rove · love
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF stoneA · solomonA · arrivedB · divedB · waveC · craveC · intenseD · frankincenseD · glowE · knowE · unknowingF · goingF
- 3 --AA can · alcoran · sweetA · feetA
- 4 --AABBCC-- higher · expire · giaoursA · oursA · believersB · deceiversB · clingsC · thingsC · underfoot · not
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spin the ball! I reel, I burn, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor head from foot can I discern, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor my heart from love of mine, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor the wine-cup from the wine. | 7 | ······· |
| All my doing, all my leaving, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Reaches not to my perceiving; | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Lost in whirling spheres I rove, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And know only that I love. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I am seeker of the stone, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Living gem of Solomon; | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| From the shore of souls arrived, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| In the sea of sense I dived; | 8 | ·······˘ |
| But what is land, or what is wave, | 8 | ········ |
| To me who only jewels crave? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Love is the air-fed fire intense, | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| And my heart the frankincense; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| As the rich aloes flames, I glow, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Yet the censer cannot know. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| I'm all-knowing, yet unknowing; | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Stand not, pause not, in my going. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Ask not me, as Muftis can, | 7 | ······· |
| To recite the Alcoran; | 7 | ·˘/·/˘˘ |
| Well I love the meaning sweet,-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I tread the book beneath my feet. | 8 | ········ |
| Lo! the God's love blazes higher, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Till all difference expire. | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| What are Moslems? what are Giaours? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All are Love's, and all are ours. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I embrace the true believers, | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| But I reck not of deceivers. | 8 | ········ |
| Firm to Heaven my bosom clings, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Heedless of inferior things; | 8 | /˘·˘/˘˘· |
| Down on earth there, underfoot, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| What men chatter know I not. | 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.