At Eleusis
now take the basket,think;think of the moment you countmost foul in your life;conjure it,supplicate,pray to it;your face is bleak, you retract,you dare not remember it:
stop;it is too late.the next stands by the altar step,a child’s face yet not innocent,it will prove adequate, but you,I could have spelt your peril at the gate,yet for your mind’s sake,though you could not enter,wait.
Now take the basket basket--(ah face in a dream,did I not know your heart,I would falter,for each that fares onwardis my child;ah can you wonderthat my hands shake,that my knees tremble,I a mortal, set in the goddess’ place?)
Words in this poem
- conjure v. t.
- To call on or summon by a sacred name or in solemn manner; to implore earnestly; to adjure. [F. conjurer, fr. L. conjurare to swear together, to conspire; con- + jurare to swear. See Jury.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At Eleusis is in the public domain. This text is taken from Heliodora, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #62456; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: H.D., At Eleusis, in Heliodora, and Other Poems (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62456, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hd-heliodora/at-eleusis.html, id L24315.
Form and metre
At Eleusis is 28 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A-A basketA · think · count · life · itA · supplicate · itA · retract · itA
- 2 -A---A--A stop · lateA · step · innocent · you · gateA · sake · enter · waitA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| now take the basket, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| think; | 1 | · |
| think of the moment you count | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| most foul in your life; | 5 | ····· |
| conjure it, | 3 | /˘· |
| supplicate, | 3 | /˘˘ |
| pray to it; | 3 | ··· |
| your face is bleak, you retract, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| you dare not remember it: | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| stop; | 1 | · |
| it is too late. | 4 | ···· |
| the next stands by the altar step, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| a child’s face yet not innocent, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| it will prove adequate, but you, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| I could have spelt your peril at the gate, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| yet for your mind’s sake, | 5 | ····· |
| though you could not enter, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| wait. | 1 | · |
| Now take the basket basket-- | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| (ah face in a dream, | 5 | ····· |
| did I not know your heart, | 6 | ······ |
| I would falter, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| for each that fares onward | 6 | ····/˘ |
| is my child; | 3 | ··· |
| ah can you wonder | 5 | ···/˘ |
| that my hands shake, | 4 | ···· |
| that my knees tremble, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| I a mortal, set in the goddess’ place?) | 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.