The Waterfall
A patch of meadow uplandReached by a mile of road,Soothed by the voice of waters,With birds and flowers bestowed.
Hither I come for strengthWhich well it can supply,For Love draws might from terrene forceAnd potencies of sky.
The tremulous battery EarthResponds to the touch of man;It thrills to the antipodes,From Boston to Japan.
The planets' child the planet knowsAnd to his joy replies;To the lark's trill unfolds the rose,Clouds flush their gayest dyes.
When Ali prayed and lovedWhere Syrian waters roll,Upward the ninth heaven thrilled and moved;At the tread of the jubilant soul.
Words in this poem
- terrene n.
- A tureen. Walpole.
- antipodes n.
- Those who live on the side of the globe diametrically opposite.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Waterfall 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 Waterfall, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/the-waterfall.html, id L07568.
Form and metre
The Waterfall is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 upland · roadA · waters · bestowedA
- 2 -A-A strength · supplyA · force · skyA
- 3 -A-A earth · manA · antipodes · japanA
- 4 ABAB knowsA · repliesB · roseA · dyesB
- 5 -A-A loved · rollA · moved · soulA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A patch of meadow upland | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Reached by a mile of road, | 7 | ·˘····· |
| Soothed by the voice of waters, | 8 | ·˘····/˘ |
| With birds and flowers bestowed. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Hither I come for strength | 6 | /˘···· |
| Which well it can supply, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For Love draws might from terrene force | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| And potencies of sky. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The tremulous battery Earth | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Responds to the touch of man; | 7 | ˘/····· |
| It thrills to the antipodes, | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| From Boston to Japan. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The planets' child the planet knows | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And to his joy replies; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To the lark's trill unfolds the rose, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Clouds flush their gayest dyes. | 5 | ····· |
| When Ali prayed and loved | 8 | ·/˘·˘··˘ |
| Where Syrian waters roll, | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Upward the ninth heaven thrilled and moved; | 8 | /˘··/··· |
| At the tread of the jubilant soul. | 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.