The Sphinx
The Sphinx is drowsy,Her wings are furled:Her ear is heavy,She broods on the world."Who'll tell me my secret,The ages have kept?--I awaited the seerWhile they slumbered and slept:--
"The fate of the man-child,The meaning of man;Known fruit of the unknown;Daedalian plan;Out of sleeping a waking,Out of waking a sleep;Life death overtaking;Deep underneath deep?
"Erect as a sunbeam,Upspringeth the palm;The elephant browses,Undaunted and calm;In beautiful motionThe thrush plies his wings;Kind leaves of his covert,Your silence he sings.
"The waves, unashamèd,In difference sweet,Play glad with the breezes,Old playfellows meet;The journeying atoms,Primordial wholes,Firmly draw, firmly drive,By their animate poles.
"Sea, earth, air, sound, silence.Plant, quadruped, bird,By one music enchanted,One deity stirred,--Each the other adorning,Accompany still;Night veileth the morning,The vapor the hill.
"The babe by its motherLies bathèd in joy;Glide its hours uncounted,--The sun is its toy;Shines the peace of all being,Without cloud, in its eyes;And the sum of the worldIn soft miniature lies.
"But man crouches and blushes,Absconds and conceals;He creepeth and peepeth,He palters and steals;Infirm, melancholy,Jealous glancing around,An oaf, an accomplice,He poisons the ground.
"Out spoke the great mother,Beholding his fear;--At the sound of her accentsCold shuddered the sphere:--'Who has drugged my boy's cup?Who has mixed my boy's bread?Who, with sadness and madness,Has turned my child's head?'"
I heard a poet answerAloud and cheerfully,'Say on, sweet Sphinx! thy dirgesAre pleasant songs to me.Deep love lieth underThese pictures of time;They fade in the light ofTheir meaning sublime.
"The fiend that man harriesIs love of the Best;Yawns the pit of the Dragon,Lit by rays from the Blest.The Lethe of NatureCan't trance him again,Whose soul sees the perfect,Which his eyes seek in vain.
"To vision profounder,Man's spirit must dive;His aye-rolling orbAt no goal will arrive;The heavens that now draw himWith sweetness untold,Once found,--for new heavensHe spurneth the old.
"Pride ruined the angels,Their shame them restores;Lurks the joy that is sweetestIn stings of remorse.Have I a loverWho is noble and free?--I would he were noblerThan to love me.
"Eterne alternationNow follows, now flies;And under pain, pleasure,--Under pleasure, pain lies.Love works at the centre,Heart-heaving alway;Forth speed the strong pulsesTo the borders of day.
"Dull Sphinx, Jove keep thy five wits;Thy sight is growing blear;Rue, myrrh and cummin for the Sphinx,Her muddy eyes to clear!"The old Sphinx bit her thick lip,--Said, "Who taught thee me to name?I am thy spirit, yoke-fellow;Of thine eye I am eyebeam.
"Thou art the unanswered question;Couldst see thy proper eye,Alway it asketh, asketh;And each answer is a lie.So take thy quest through nature,It through thousand natures ply;Ask on, thou clothed eternity;Time is the false reply."
Uprose the merry Sphinx,And crouched no more in stone;She melted into purple cloud,She silvered in the moon;She spired into a yellow flame;She flowered in blossoms red;She flowed into a foaming wave:She stood Monadnoc's head.
Thorough a thousand voicesSpoke the universal dame;"Who telleth one of my meaningsIs master of all I am."
Words in this poem 21
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- undaunted a.
- Not daunted; not subdued or depressed by fear.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- miniature n.
- Originally, a painting in colors such as those in mediæval manuscripts; in modern times, any very small painting, especially a portrait. [It. miniatura, fr. L. miniare. See Miniate, v.,Minium.]
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- beholding a.
- Obliged; beholden.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- cheerfully adv.
- In a cheerful manner, gladly.
- lethe n.
- A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past.
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- blear a.
- Dim or sore with water or rheum; -- said of the eyes. [See Blear, v.]
- eyebeam n.
- A glance of the eye.
- unanswered a.
- Not answered; not replied; as, an unanswered letter.
- crouched a.
- Marked with the sign of the cross. Crouched friar. See Crutched friar, under Crutched.
- spired a.
- Having a spire; being in the form of a spire; as, a spired steeple. Mason.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sphinx 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, The Sphinx, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/the-sphinx.html, id L07386.
Form and metre
The Sphinx is 132 lines in 17 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 47 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 -A-A-B-B drowsy · furledA · heavy · worldA · secret · keptB · seer · sleptB
- 2 -A-ABCBC child · manA · unknown · planA · wakingB · sleepC · overtakingB · deepC
- 3 -A-A-B-B sunbeam · palmA · browses · calmA · motion · wingsB · covert · singsB
- 4 -A-A-B-B unashamèd · sweetA · breezes · meetA · atoms · wholesB · drive · polesB
- 5 -AAABCBC silence · birdA · enchantedA · stirredA · adorningB · stillC · morningB · hillC
- 6 -A-A-B-B mother · joyA · uncounted · toyA · being · eyesB · world · liesB
- 7 -A-A-B-B blushes · concealsA · peepeth · stealsA · melancholy · aroundB · accomplice · groundB
- 8 -A-A-B-B mother · fearA · accents · sphereA · cup · breadB · madness · headB
- 9 -----A-A answer · cheerfully · dirges · me · under · timeA · of · sublimeA
- 10 -ABA-B-B harries · bestA · dragonB · blestA · nature · againB · perfect · vainB
- 11 -A-A-B-B profounder · diveA · orb · arriveA · him · untoldB · heavens · oldB
- 12 -----A-A angels · restores · sweetest · remorse · lover · freeA · nobler · meA
- 13 -A-A--A- alternation · fliesA · pleasure · liesA · centre · alway · pulsesA · day
- 14 -A-A---- wits · blearA · sphinx · clearA · lip · name · fellow · eyebeam
- 15 -A-A-A-A question · eyeA · asketh · lieA · nature · plyA · eternity · replyA
- 16 -----A-A sphinx · stone · cloud · moon · flame · redA · wave · headA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Sphinx is drowsy, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Her wings are furled: | 4 | ···· |
| Her ear is heavy, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| She broods on the world. | 5 | ····· |
| "Who'll tell me my secret, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The ages have kept?-- | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I awaited the seer | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| While they slumbered and slept:-- | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| "The fate of the man-child, | 6 | ······ |
| The meaning of man; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Known fruit of the unknown; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Daedalian plan; | 4 | ···· |
| Out of sleeping a waking, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Out of waking a sleep; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Life death overtaking; | 6 | ··/˘·˘ |
| Deep underneath deep? | 5 | ··˘/· |
| "Erect as a sunbeam, | 6 | ˘/··/· |
| Upspringeth the palm; | 5 | ····· |
| The elephant browses, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| Undaunted and calm; | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| In beautiful motion | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| The thrush plies his wings; | 5 | ····· |
| Kind leaves of his covert, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Your silence he sings. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| "The waves, unashamèd, | 5 | ····· |
| In difference sweet, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Play glad with the breezes, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Old playfellows meet; | 5 | ····· |
| The journeying atoms, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| Primordial wholes, | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| Firmly draw, firmly drive, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| By their animate poles. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| "Sea, earth, air, sound, silence. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Plant, quadruped, bird, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| By one music enchanted, | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| One deity stirred,-- | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Each the other adorning, | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| Accompany still; | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| Night veileth the morning, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The vapor the hill. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| "The babe by its mother | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Lies bathèd in joy; | 4 | ···· |
| Glide its hours uncounted,-- | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| The sun is its toy; | 5 | ····· |
| Shines the peace of all being, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Without cloud, in its eyes; | 6 | ······ |
| And the sum of the world | 6 | ······ |
| In soft miniature lies. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| "But man crouches and blushes, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Absconds and conceals; | 5 | ˘/·˘/ |
| He creepeth and peepeth, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| He palters and steals; | 5 | ····· |
| Infirm, melancholy, | 6 | ˘//˘·˘ |
| Jealous glancing around, | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| An oaf, an accomplice, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| He poisons the ground. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| "Out spoke the great mother, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Beholding his fear;-- | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| At the sound of her accents | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Cold shuddered the sphere:-- | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| 'Who has drugged my boy's cup? | 7 | ···˘··· |
| Who has mixed my boy's bread? | 7 | ···˘··· |
| Who, with sadness and madness, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Has turned my child's head?'" | 5 | ····· |
| I heard a poet answer | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Aloud and cheerfully, | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| 'Say on, sweet Sphinx! thy dirges | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Are pleasant songs to me. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Deep love lieth under | 5 | ····· |
| These pictures of time; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| They fade in the light of | 6 | ······ |
| Their meaning sublime. | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| "The fiend that man harries | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Is love of the Best; | 5 | ····· |
| Yawns the pit of the Dragon, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Lit by rays from the Blest. | 6 | ······ |
| The Lethe of Nature | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Can't trance him again, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Whose soul sees the perfect, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Which his eyes seek in vain. | 6 | ······ |
| "To vision profounder, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Man's spirit must dive; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| His aye-rolling orb | 5 | ··/˘· |
| At no goal will arrive; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The heavens that now draw him | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| With sweetness untold, | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| Once found,--for new heavens | 6 | ····/˘ |
| He spurneth the old. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| "Pride ruined the angels, | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Their shame them restores; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Lurks the joy that is sweetest | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In stings of remorse. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Have I a lover | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Who is noble and free?-- | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| I would he were nobler | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Than to love me. | 4 | ···· |
| "Eterne alternation | 6 | ˘//˘·˘ |
| Now follows, now flies; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And under pain, pleasure,-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Under pleasure, pain lies. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Love works at the centre, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Heart-heaving alway; | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Forth speed the strong pulses | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To the borders of day. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| "Dull Sphinx, Jove keep thy five wits; | 7 | ······· |
| Thy sight is growing blear; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Rue, myrrh and cummin for the Sphinx, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her muddy eyes to clear!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The old Sphinx bit her thick lip,-- | 7 | ······· |
| Said, "Who taught thee me to name? | 7 | ······· |
| I am thy spirit, yoke-fellow; | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Of thine eye I am eyebeam. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "Thou art the unanswered question; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Couldst see thy proper eye, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Alway it asketh, asketh; | 7 | /˘····· |
| And each answer is a lie. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So take thy quest through nature, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| It through thousand natures ply; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Ask on, thou clothed eternity; | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Time is the false reply." | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Uprose the merry Sphinx, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And crouched no more in stone; | 7 | ··˘···· |
| She melted into purple cloud, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She silvered in the moon; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| She spired into a yellow flame; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She flowered in blossoms red; | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| She flowed into a foaming wave: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She stood Monadnoc's head. | 6 | ······ |
| Thorough a thousand voices | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Spoke the universal dame; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| "Who telleth one of my meanings | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Is master of all I am." | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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