The Visit
Askest, 'How long thou shalt stay?'Devastator of the day!Know, each substance and relation,Thorough nature's operation,Hath its unit, bound and metre;And every new compoundIs some product and repeater,--Product of the earlier found.But the unit of the visit,The encounter of the wise,--Say, what other metre is itThan the meeting of the eyes?Nature poureth into natureThrough the channels of that feature,Riding on the ray of sight,Fleeter far than whirlwinds go,Or for service, or delight,Hearts to hearts their meaning show,Sum their long experience,And import intelligence.Single look has drained the breast;Single moment years confessed.The duration of a glanceIs the term of convenance,And, though thy rede be church or state,Frugal multiples of that.Speeding Saturn cannot halt;Linger,--thou shalt rue the fault:If Love his moment overstay,Hatred's swift repulsions play.
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- devastator n.
- One who, or that which, devastates. Emerson. [L.]
- repeater n.
- One who, or that which, repeats. Specifically: (a) A watch with a striking apparatus which, upon pressure of a spring, will indicate the time, usually in hours and quarters.
- convenance n.
- That which is suitable, agreeable, or convenient. [F., fitness, suitableness.]
- rede v. t.
- To advise or counsel. [See Read, v. t.]
- overstay v. t.
- To stay beyond the time or the limits of; as, to overstay the appointed time. Bp. Hall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Visit 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 Visit, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/the-visit.html, id L07383.
Form and metre
The Visit is 30 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AABBCDCDEFEF--GHGHIIJJII--KKAA stayA · dayA · relationB · operationB · metreC · compoundD · repeaterC · foundD · visitE · wiseF · itE · eyesF · nature · feature · sightG · goH · delightG · showH · experienceI · intelligenceI · breastJ · confessedJ · glanceI · convenanceI · state · that · haltK · faultK · overstayA · playA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Askest, 'How long thou shalt stay?' | 7 | ······· |
| Devastator of the day! | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Know, each substance and relation, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Thorough nature's operation, | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Hath its unit, bound and metre; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And every new compound | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Is some product and repeater,-- | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Product of the earlier found. | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| But the unit of the visit, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| The encounter of the wise,-- | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Say, what other metre is it | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Than the meeting of the eyes? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nature poureth into nature | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Through the channels of that feature, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Riding on the ray of sight, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Fleeter far than whirlwinds go, | 7 | ····/·· |
| Or for service, or delight, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Hearts to hearts their meaning show, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sum their long experience, | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| And import intelligence. | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Single look has drained the breast; | 8 | /˘···˘·· |
| Single moment years confessed. | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| The duration of a glance | 7 | ·//˘··· |
| Is the term of convenance, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And, though thy rede be church or state, | 8 | ········ |
| Frugal multiples of that. | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Speeding Saturn cannot halt; | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Linger,--thou shalt rue the fault: | 7 | /˘····· |
| If Love his moment overstay, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Hatred's swift repulsions play. | 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.