Traveller
How shall I reach the vortex of this pile--How shall I clamber up its shelving sides?I scarce endure to glance toward the summit,It seems among the clouds--When was't thou rais'd,O work of more than mortal majesty--Was this produc'd by persevering man,Or did the gods erect this pyramid?
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- clamber v. i.
- To climb with difficulty, or with hands and feet; -- also used figuratively. [OE clambren, clameren, to heap together, climb; akin to Icel. klambra to clamp, G. klammern. Cf. Clamp, Climb.]
- shelving a.
- Sloping gradually; inclining; as, a shelving shore.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Traveller is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3), Project Gutenberg ebook #38475; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Philip Freneau, Traveller, in Poems (1786–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38475, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/freneau-poems/traveller-3.html, id L12704.
Form and metre
Traveller is 7 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How shall I reach the vortex of this pile-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How shall I clamber up its shelving sides? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I scarce endure to glance toward the summit, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| It seems among the clouds--When was't thou rais'd, | 10 | ·········· |
| O work of more than mortal majesty-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Was this produc'd by persevering man, | 10 | ··˘/·˘˘/˘· |
| Or did the gods erect this pyramid? | 10 | ····˘/·/˘˘ |
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.