Sunday in Liguria
THIS is the Sabbath day, the day of rest,That breathes so gently in this quiet place,With such insistent peace that for a spaceThe silver olives on the mountain’s crestForget to whisper, folded in the graceOf lengthening shadows gathered from the noon.The clouds are golden, yet a placid moonSlips out among them, calm and pale of face.
O soul of mine, breathe in this holy thingThat steeps the hills down to the dreaming sea;This endless prayer, this silent ecstacy,That like a great white bird on sunlit wingHovers above the world; ’tis given theeTo merge thyself in this harmonious whole,And be content, seeking no higher goal;The earth is God’s, to-day eternity!
Words in this poem
- insistent a.
- Standing or resting on something; as, an insistent wall. Sir H. [L. insistens, -entis, p. pr. of insistere.]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- merge v. t.
- To cause to be swallowed up; to immerse; to sink; to absorb. [L. mergere, mersum. Cf. Emerge, Immerse, Marrow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sunday in Liguria is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #50591; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Radclyffe Hall, Sunday in Liguria, in Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hall-three-counties/sunday-in-liguria.html, id L22699.
Form and metre
Sunday in Liguria is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBABCCB restA · placeB · spaceB · crestA · graceB · noonC · moonC · faceB
- 2 AB-ABCC- thingA · seaB · ecstacy · wingA · theeB · wholeC · goalC · eternity
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THIS is the Sabbath day, the day of rest, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That breathes so gently in this quiet place, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With such insistent peace that for a space | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The silver olives on the mountain’s crest | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Forget to whisper, folded in the grace | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| Of lengthening shadows gathered from the noon. | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| The clouds are golden, yet a placid moon | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Slips out among them, calm and pale of face. | 10 | ·········· |
| O soul of mine, breathe in this holy thing | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That steeps the hills down to the dreaming sea; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This endless prayer, this silent ecstacy, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That like a great white bird on sunlit wing | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Hovers above the world; ’tis given thee | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| To merge thyself in this harmonious whole, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| And be content, seeking no higher goal; | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| The earth is God’s, to-day eternity! | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
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