The world stands without move or sound
The world stands without move or soundIn this white silence gathered roundIt like a hood. It is so stillThat earth lies without wish or willTo breathe. My garden, stark and white,Sits soundless in the falling lightOf lifting bush and sudden hedgeIce bound and ghostly on the edgeOf my world, curtained by the snowDrifting, sifting; fast, now slow;Falling endlessly from skiesCalm and gray, some far god's eyes.
The soundless quiet flakes slide pastLike teardrops on a sheet of glass,Ah, there is some god aboveWhose tears of pity, pain, and loveSlowly freeze and brimming slowUpon my chilled and marbled woe;The pool, sealed now by ice and snow,Is dreaming quietly below,Within its jewelled eye keepingThe mirrored skies it knew in spring.
How soft the snow upon my face!And delicate cold! I can find graceIn its endless quiescenceFor my enthrallèd impotence:Solace from a pitying breastBringing quietude and restTo dull my eyes; and sifting slowUpon the waiting earth belowFold veil on veil of peacefulnessLike wings to still and keep and bless.
Words in this poem
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- endlessly adv.
- In an endless manner.
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
- chilled a.
- Hardened on the surface or edge by chilling; as, chilled iron; a chilled wheel.
- marbled a.
- Made of, or faced with, marble.
- quiescence n.
- The state or quality of being quiescent. [L. quiescentia, fr. quiescens, p. pr.; cf. F. quiestence. See Quiesce.]
- impotence n.
- The quality or condition of being impotent; want of strength or power, animal, intellectual, or moral; weakness; feebleness; inability; imbecility. [L. impotenia inability, poverty, want of moderation. See Impotent.]
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- quietude n.
- Rest; repose; quiet; tranquillity. Shelley. [L. quietudo: cf. F. quiétude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The world stands without move or sound is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Marble Faun, Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Faulkner, The world stands without move or sound, in The Marble Faun (1924), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/faulkner-marble-faun/section-15.html, id L28627.
Form and metre
The world stands without move or sound is 32 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFF soundA · roundA · stillB · willB · whiteC · lightC · hedgeD · edgeD · snowE · slowE · skiesF · eyesF
- 2 --AABBBBCC past · glass · aboveA · loveA · slowB · woeB · snowB · belowB · keepingC · springC
- 3 AABBCCDDEE faceA · graceA · quiescenceB · impotenceB · breastC · restC · slowD · belowD · peacefulnessE · blessE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The world stands without move or sound | 8 | ········ |
| In this white silence gathered round | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| It like a hood. It is so still | 8 | ········ |
| That earth lies without wish or will | 8 | ········ |
| To breathe. My garden, stark and white, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sits soundless in the falling light | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of lifting bush and sudden hedge | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ice bound and ghostly on the edge | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of my world, curtained by the snow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drifting, sifting; fast, now slow; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Falling endlessly from skies | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Calm and gray, some far god's eyes. | 7 | ······· |
| The soundless quiet flakes slide past | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Like teardrops on a sheet of glass, | 8 | ········ |
| Ah, there is some god above | 7 | ······· |
| Whose tears of pity, pain, and love | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Slowly freeze and brimming slow | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Upon my chilled and marbled woe; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The pool, sealed now by ice and snow, | 8 | ········ |
| Is dreaming quietly below, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Within its jewelled eye keeping | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| The mirrored skies it knew in spring. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How soft the snow upon my face! | 8 | ········ |
| And delicate cold! I can find grace | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In its endless quiescence | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| For my enthrallèd impotence: | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Solace from a pitying breast | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Bringing quietude and rest | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| To dull my eyes; and sifting slow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon the waiting earth below | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fold veil on veil of peacefulness | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Like wings to still and keep and bless. | 8 | ········ |
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