On the Bluff
O grandly flowing River!O silver-gliding River!Thy springing willows shiverIn the sunset as of old;They shiver in the silenceOf the willow-whitened islands,While the sun-bars and the sand-barsFill air and wave with gold.
O gay, oblivious River!O sunset-kindled River!Do you remember everThe eyes and skies so blueOn a summer day that shone here,When we were all alone here,And the blue eyes were too wiseTo speak the love they knew?
O stern, impassive River!O still, unanswering River!The shivering willows quiverAs the night-winds moan and rave.From the past a voice is calling,From heaven a star is falling,And dew swells in the bluebellsAbove her hillside grave.
Words in this poem
- grandly adv.
- In a grand manner.
- oblivious a.
- Promoting oblivion; causing forgetfulness. [L.obliviosus: cf.F. oblivieux.]
- impassive a.
- Not susceptible of pain or suffering; apathetic; impassible; unmoved.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Bluff is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, On the Bluff, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/on-the-bluff.html, id L21632.
Form and metre
On the Bluff is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See 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 AAAB---B riverA · riverA · shiverA · oldB · silence · islands · bars · goldB
- 2 AA-BCC-B riverA · riverA · ever · blueB · hereC · hereC · wise · knewB
- 3 AAAB---B riverA · riverA · quiverA · raveB · calling · falling · bluebells · graveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O grandly flowing River! | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| O silver-gliding River! | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Thy springing willows shiver | 7 | ·/˘/·/˘ |
| In the sunset as of old; | 7 | ··/···· |
| They shiver in the silence | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Of the willow-whitened islands, | 8 | ··/·/˘/˘ |
| While the sun-bars and the sand-bars | 8 | ········ |
| Fill air and wave with gold. | 6 | ······ |
| O gay, oblivious River! | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| O sunset-kindled River! | 8 | ·/·/˘˘/˘ |
| Do you remember ever | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| The eyes and skies so blue | 6 | ······ |
| On a summer day that shone here, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| When we were all alone here, | 7 | ····˘/· |
| And the blue eyes were too wise | 7 | ······· |
| To speak the love they knew? | 6 | ······ |
| O stern, impassive River! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| O still, unanswering River! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The shivering willows quiver | 8 | ·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| As the night-winds moan and rave. | 7 | ······· |
| From the past a voice is calling, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| From heaven a star is falling, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| And dew swells in the bluebells | 7 | ·····/· |
| Above her hillside grave. | 6 | ···/·· |
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.