Written in Keats' "Endymion"
I saw pale Dian, sitting by the brinkOf silver falls, the overflow of fountainsFrom cloudy steeps; and I grew sad to thinkEndymion's foot was silent on those mountains.And he but a hush'd name, that Silence keepsIn dear remembrance,--lonely, and forlorn,Singing it to herself until she weepsTears, that perchance still glisten in the morn:--And as I mused, in dull imaginings,There came a flash of garments, and I knewThe awful Muse by her harmonious wingsCharming the air to music as she flew--Anon there rose an echo through the valeGave back Enydmion in a dreamlike tale.
Words in this poem
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written in Keats' "Endymion" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, Written in Keats' "Endymion", in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/written-in-keats-endymion.html, id L20058.
Form and metre
Written in Keats' "Endymion" is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG brinkA · fountainsB · thinkA · mountainsB · keepsC · forlornD · weepsC · mornD · imaginingsE · knewF · wingsE · flewF · valeG · taleG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I saw pale Dian, sitting by the brink | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Of silver falls, the overflow of fountains | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| From cloudy steeps; and I grew sad to think | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Endymion's foot was silent on those mountains. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| And he but a hush'd name, that Silence keeps | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In dear remembrance,--lonely, and forlorn, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Singing it to herself until she weeps | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Tears, that perchance still glisten in the morn:-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And as I mused, in dull imaginings, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| There came a flash of garments, and I knew | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The awful Muse by her harmonious wings | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Charming the air to music as she flew-- | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Anon there rose an echo through the vale | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Gave back Enydmion in a dreamlike tale. | 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.