At Ithaca
Over and back,the long waves crawland track the sand with foam;night darkens and the seatakes on that desperate toneof dark that wives put onwhen all their love is done.
Over and back,the tangled thread falls slack,over and up and on;over and all is sewn;now while I bind the end,I wish some fiery friendwould sweep impetuouslythese fingers from the loom.
My weary thoughtsplay traitor to my soul,just as the toil is over;swift while the woof is whole,turn now my spirit, swift,and tear the pattern there,the flowers so deftly wrought,the border of sea-blue,the sea-blue coast of home.
The web was over-fair,that web of pictures there,enchantments that I thoughthe had, that I had lost;weaving his happinesswithin the stitching frame,weaving his fire and fame,I thought my work was done,I prayed that only oneof those that I had spurned,might stoop and conquer thislong waiting with a kiss.
But each time that I seemy work so beautifullyinwoven and would keepthe picture and the whole,Athene steels my soul,slanting across my brain,I see as shafts of rainhis chariot and his shafts,I see the arrows fall,I see my lord who moveslike Hector, lord of love,I see him matched with fairbright rivals and I seethose lesser rivals flee.
Words in this poem
- crawl v. i.
- To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- deftly adv.
- Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. [Cf. Defly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At Ithaca 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 Ithaca, in Heliodora, and Other Poems (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62456, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hd-heliodora/at-ithaca.html, id L24305.
Form and metre
At Ithaca is 50 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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.
- 2 AA--BB-- backA · slackA · on · sewn · endB · friendB · impetuously · loom
- 3 -A-A----- thoughts · soulA · over · wholeA · swift · there · wrought · blue · home
- 4 AA---BBCC-DD fairA · thereA · thought · lost · happiness · frameB · fameB · doneC · oneC · spurned · thisD · kissD
- 5 A--BBCC-----AA seeA · beautifully · keep · wholeB · soulB · brainC · rainC · shafts · fall · moves · love · fair · seeA · fleeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Over and back, | 4 | ···· |
| the long waves crawl | 4 | ···· |
| and track the sand with foam; | 6 | ······ |
| night darkens and the sea | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| takes on that desperate tone | 6 | ···/˘· |
| of dark that wives put on | 6 | ······ |
| when all their love is done. | 6 | ······ |
| Over and back, | 4 | ···· |
| the tangled thread falls slack, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| over and up and on; | 6 | ······ |
| over and all is sewn; | 6 | ······ |
| now while I bind the end, | 6 | ······ |
| I wish some fiery friend | 6 | ···/˘· |
| would sweep impetuously | 6 | ······ |
| these fingers from the loom. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My weary thoughts | 4 | ·/˘· |
| play traitor to my soul, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| just as the toil is over; | 6 | ······ |
| swift while the woof is whole, | 6 | ······ |
| turn now my spirit, swift, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| and tear the pattern there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| the flowers so deftly wrought, | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| the border of sea-blue, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| the sea-blue coast of home. | 6 | ······ |
| The web was over-fair, | 6 | ······ |
| that web of pictures there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| enchantments that I thought | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| he had, that I had lost; | 6 | ······ |
| weaving his happiness | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| within the stitching frame, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| weaving his fire and fame, | 6 | /˘·/·· |
| I thought my work was done, | 6 | ······ |
| I prayed that only one | 6 | ···/˘· |
| of those that I had spurned, | 6 | ······ |
| might stoop and conquer this | 6 | ···/˘· |
| long waiting with a kiss. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But each time that I see | 6 | ······ |
| my work so beautifully | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| inwoven and would keep | 6 | ······ |
| the picture and the whole, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Athene steels my soul, | 5 | ····· |
| slanting across my brain, | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| I see as shafts of rain | 6 | ······ |
| his chariot and his shafts, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I see the arrows fall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I see my lord who moves | 6 | ······ |
| like Hector, lord of love, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I see him matched with fair | 6 | ······ |
| bright rivals and I see | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| those lesser rivals flee. | 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.