I Am Content
True; I dwell lone,Upon sea-beaten cape,Mere raft of stone;Whence all escapeSave one who shrinks not from the gloom,And will not take the coward's leap i' the tomb.
My bedroom rocksWith breezes; quakes in storms,When dangling locksOf seaweed mock the formsOf straggling clouds that trail o'erheadLike tresses from disrupted coffin-lead.
Upon the skyCrape palls are often nailedWith stars. Mine eyeHas scared the gull that sailedTo blacker depths with shrillest scream,Still fainter, till like voices in a dream.
My days becomeMore plaintive, wan, and pale,While o'er the foamI see, borne by the gale,Infinity! in kindness sent--To find me ever saying: "I'm content!"
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- bedroom n.
- A room or apartment intended or used for a bed; a lodging room.
- straggling a.
- from Straggle, v.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I Am Content is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, I Am Content, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/i-am-content.html, id L26819.
Form and metre
I Am Content is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCC loneA · capeB · stoneA · escapeB · gloomC · tombC
- 2 ABABCC rocksA · stormsB · locksA · formsB · o'erheadC · leadC
- 3 ABABCC skyA · nailedB · eyeA · sailedB · screamC · dreamC
- 4 ABABCC becomeA · paleB · foamA · galeB · sentC · contentC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| True; I dwell lone, | 4 | ···· |
| Upon sea-beaten cape, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Mere raft of stone; | 4 | ···· |
| Whence all escape | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Save one who shrinks not from the gloom, | 8 | ········ |
| And will not take the coward's leap i' the tomb. | 10 | ·····/···· |
| My bedroom rocks | 4 | ·/·· |
| With breezes; quakes in storms, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When dangling locks | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Of seaweed mock the forms | 6 | ·/···· |
| Of straggling clouds that trail o'erhead | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Like tresses from disrupted coffin-lead. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Upon the sky | 4 | ···· |
| Crape palls are often nailed | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With stars. Mine eye | 4 | ···· |
| Has scared the gull that sailed | 6 | ······ |
| To blacker depths with shrillest scream, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Still fainter, till like voices in a dream. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| My days become | 4 | ··˘/ |
| More plaintive, wan, and pale, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While o'er the foam | 4 | ···· |
| I see, borne by the gale, | 6 | ······ |
| Infinity! in kindness sent-- | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| To find me ever saying: "I'm content!" | 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.