The Land of Fable
Now, vot'ries of the Muses, turn your eyes,Unto the East, and say what there appears!"Alas!" the voice of Poesy replies,"Mystic's that light between the hemispheres!"
"Yes, dread's the mystic light in yonder heaven--Dull is the gleam behind the distant hill;Like feeble flashes in the welkin driven,When the far thunder seems as it were still!
"But who can tell if that uncertain glareBe Phoebus' self, adorned with glowing vest;Or, if illusions, pregnant in the air,Have drawn our glances to the radiant west?
"Haply the sunset has deceived the sight--Perchance 'tis evening, while we look for morning;Bewildered in the mazes of twilight,That lucid sunset may appear a dawning!"
Words in this poem
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- welkin n.
- The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven; the sky. [OE. welken, welkene, welkne, wolcne, weolcne, AS. wolcen, pl. wolcnu, a cloud; akin to D. wolk, OFries. wolken, OS. wolkan, G. wolke, OHG. wolchan, and probably]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Land of Fable 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, The Land of Fable, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-land-of-fable.html, id L26745.
Form and metre
The Land of Fable is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABAB eyesA · appearsB · repliesA · hemispheresB
- 2 ABAB heavenA · hillB · drivenA · stillB
- 3 ABAB glareA · vestB · airA · westB
- 4 ABAB sightA · morningB · twilightA · dawningB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now, vot'ries of the Muses, turn your eyes, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Unto the East, and say what there appears! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| "Alas!" the voice of Poesy replies, | 10 | ˘/···/˘˘˘/ |
| "Mystic's that light between the hemispheres!" | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| "Yes, dread's the mystic light in yonder heaven-- | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Dull is the gleam behind the distant hill; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Like feeble flashes in the welkin driven, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| When the far thunder seems as it were still! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| "But who can tell if that uncertain glare | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Be Phoebus' self, adorned with glowing vest; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Or, if illusions, pregnant in the air, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Have drawn our glances to the radiant west? | 10 | ··//˘··/˘· |
| "Haply the sunset has deceived the sight-- | 10 | /˘·/··˘/·· |
| Perchance 'tis evening, while we look for morning; | 11 | ˘/·/˘····/˘ |
| Bewildered in the mazes of twilight, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·/· |
| That lucid sunset may appear a dawning!" | 11 | ·/˘/··˘/·/˘ |
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.