Terminus
It is time to be old,To take in sail:--The god of bounds,Who sets to seas a shore,Came to me in his fatal rounds,And said: 'No more!No farther shootThy broad ambitious branches, and thy root.Fancy departs: no more invent;Contract thy firmamentTo compass of a tent.There's not enough for this and that,Make thy option which of two;Economize the failing river,Not the less revere the Giver,Leave the many and hold the few.Timely wise accept the terms,Soften the fall with wary foot;A little whileStill plan and smile,And,--fault of novel germs,--Mature the unfallen fruit.Curse, if thou wilt, thy sires,Bad husbands of their fires,Who, when they gave thee breath,Failed to bequeathThe needful sinew stark as once,The Baresark marrow to thy bones,But left a legacy of ebbing veins,Inconstant heat and nerveless reins,--Amid the Muses, left thee deaf and dumb,Amid the gladiators, halt and numb.'
As the bird trims her to the gale,I trim myself to the storm of time,I man the rudder, reef the sail,Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime:'Lowly faithful, banish fear,Right onward drive unharmed;The port, well worth the cruise, is near,And every wave is charmed.'
Words in this poem
- invent v. t.
- To come or light upon; to meet; to find. [L. inventus, p. p. of invenire to come upon, to find, invent; pref. in- in + venire to come, akin to E. come: cf. F. inventer. See Come.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- option n.
- The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; an alternative. [L. optio; akin to optare to choose, wish, optimus best, and perh. to E. apt: cf. F. option.]
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- bequeath v. t.
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- sinew n.
- A tendon or tendonous tissue. See Tendon. [OE. sinewe, senewe, AS. sinu, seonu; akin to D. zenuw, OHG. senawa, G. sehne, Icel. sin, Sw. sena, Dan. sene; cf. Skr. snava. sq. root290.]
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- baresark n.
- A Berserker, or Norse warrior who fought without armor, or shirt of mail. Hence, adverbially: Without shirt of mail or armor. [Literally, bare sark or shirt.]
- nerveless a.
- Destitute of nerves.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- cruise v. i.
- To sail back and forth on the ocean; to sail, as for the potection of commerce, in search of an enemy, for plunder, or for pleasure. [D. kruisen to move crosswise or in a zigzag, to cruise, fr. kruis cross, fr. OF. crois, croiz, F. croix, or directly fr. OF. croisier, F. croiser, to cross, cru]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Terminus 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, Terminus, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/terminus.html, id L07470.
Form and metre
Terminus is 40 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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 --ABABCCDDD-EFFEG-HHG-------IIJJ old · sail · boundsA · shoreB · roundsA · moreB · shootC · rootC · inventD · firmamentD · tentD · that · twoE · riverF · giverF · fewE · termsG · foot · whileH · smileH · germsG · fruit · sires · fires · breath · bequeath · once · bones · veinsI · reinsI · dumbJ · numbJ
- 2 ABABCDCD galeA · timeB · sailA · primeB · fearC · unharmedD · nearC · charmedD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is time to be old, | 6 | ······ |
| To take in sail:-- | 4 | ···· |
| The god of bounds, | 4 | ···· |
| Who sets to seas a shore, | 6 | ······ |
| Came to me in his fatal rounds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And said: 'No more! | 4 | ···· |
| No farther shoot | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Thy broad ambitious branches, and thy root. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Fancy departs: no more invent; | 8 | /˘˘/··˘/ |
| Contract thy firmament | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| To compass of a tent. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There's not enough for this and that, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Make thy option which of two; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Economize the failing river, | 9 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Not the less revere the Giver, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Leave the many and hold the few. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Timely wise accept the terms, | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Soften the fall with wary foot; | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| A little while | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Still plan and smile, | 4 | ···· |
| And,--fault of novel germs,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Mature the unfallen fruit. | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Curse, if thou wilt, thy sires, | 6 | ······ |
| Bad husbands of their fires, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Who, when they gave thee breath, | 6 | ······ |
| Failed to bequeath | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The needful sinew stark as once, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The Baresark marrow to thy bones, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But left a legacy of ebbing veins, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Inconstant heat and nerveless reins,-- | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Amid the Muses, left thee deaf and dumb, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Amid the gladiators, halt and numb.' | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘··· |
| As the bird trims her to the gale, | 8 | ········ |
| I trim myself to the storm of time, | 9 | ···/····· |
| I man the rudder, reef the sail, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime: | 10 | ˘/····˘/·· |
| 'Lowly faithful, banish fear, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Right onward drive unharmed; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| The port, well worth the cruise, is near, | 8 | ········ |
| And every wave is charmed.' | 8 | ·/˘˘···˘ |
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.