Ye Mariners Who Spread Your Sails
Ye mariners! ye mariners! each sail to the breeze unfurled,In joy or sorrow still pursue your course around the world;And when the stars next sunset shine, ye anxiously will gazeUpon the shore, a friend or foe, as the windy quarter lays.
Ye envious souls, with spiteful tooth, the statue's base will bite;Ye birds will sing, ye bending boughs with verdure glad the sight;The ivy root in the stone entwined, will cause old gates to fall;The church-bell sound to work or rest the villagers will call.
Ye glorious oaks will still increase in solitude profound,Where the far west in distance lies as evening veils around;Ye willows, to the earth your arms in mournful trail will bend,And back again your mirror'd forms the water's surface send.
Ye nests will oscillate beneath the youthful progeny;Embraced in furrows of the earth the germing grain will lie;Ye lightning-torches still your streams will cast into the air,Which like a troubled spirit's course float wildly here and there.
Ye thunder-peals will God proclaim, as doth the ocean wave;Ye violets will nourish still the flower that April gave;Upon your ambient tides will be man's sternest shadow cast;Your waters ever will roll on when man himself is past.
All things that are, or being have, or those that mutely lie,Have each its course to follow out, or object to descry;Contributing its little share to that stupendous whole,Where with man's teeming race combined creation's wonders roll.
The poet, too, will contemplate th' Almighty Father's love,Who to our restless minds, with light and darkness from above,Hath given the heavens that glorious urn of tranquil majesty,Whence in unceasing stores we draw calm and serenity.
Words in this poem
- anxiously adv.
- In an anxious manner; with painful uncertainty; solicitously.
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- ambient a.
- Encompassing on all sides; circumfused; investing. [L. ambiens, p. pr. of ambire to go around; amb- + ire to go.]
- mutely adv.
- Without uttering words or sounds; in a mute manner; silently.
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
- stupendous a.
- Astonishing; wonderful; amazing; especially, astonishing in magnitude or elevation; as, a stupendous pile. [L. stupendus astonishing, p. future pass. of stupere to be astonished at. Cf. Stupid.]
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
- contemplate v. t.
- To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. [L. contemplatus, p.p. of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ye Mariners Who Spread Your Sails 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, Ye Mariners Who Spread Your Sails, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/ye-mariners-who-spread-your-sails.html, id L26781.
Form and metre
Ye Mariners Who Spread Your Sails is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB unfurledA · worldA · gazeB · laysB
- 2 AABB biteA · sightA · fallB · callB
- 3 AABB profoundA · aroundA · bendB · sendB
- 4 --AA progeny · lie · airA · thereA
- 5 AABB waveA · gaveA · castB · pastB
- 6 AABB lieA · descryA · wholeB · rollB
- 7 AABB loveA · aboveA · majestyB · serenityB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ye mariners! ye mariners! each sail to the breeze unfurled, | 14 | ·/˘·/˘˘·····˘/ |
| In joy or sorrow still pursue your course around the world; | 14 | ···/˘·˘/······ |
| And when the stars next sunset shine, ye anxiously will gaze | 14 | ·····/···/˘˘·· |
| Upon the shore, a friend or foe, as the windy quarter lays. | 15 | ··········/˘/˘· |
| Ye envious souls, with spiteful tooth, the statue's base will bite; | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/···· |
| Ye birds will sing, ye bending boughs with verdure glad the sight; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| The ivy root in the stone entwined, will cause old gates to fall; | 15 | ·/˘····˘/······ |
| The church-bell sound to work or rest the villagers will call. | 14 | ·········/˘˘·· |
| Ye glorious oaks will still increase in solitude profound, | 14 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Where the far west in distance lies as evening veils around; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| Ye willows, to the earth your arms in mournful trail will bend, | 14 | ·/·······/˘··· |
| And back again your mirror'd forms the water's surface send. | 14 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Ye nests will oscillate beneath the youthful progeny; | 14 | ···/˘····/˘/˘˘ |
| Embraced in furrows of the earth the germing grain will lie; | 14 | ˘/·/˘····/˘··· |
| Ye lightning-torches still your streams will cast into the air, | 14 | ·/˘/˘········· |
| Which like a troubled spirit's course float wildly here and there. | 14 | ···/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Ye thunder-peals will God proclaim, as doth the ocean wave; | 14 | ·/˘···˘/···/˘· |
| Ye violets will nourish still the flower that April gave; | 14 | ·/˘˘·/˘··/·/˘· |
| Upon your ambient tides will be man's sternest shadow cast; | 14 | ···/˘····/˘/·· |
| Your waters ever will roll on when man himself is past. | 14 | ·/˘/˘·····˘/·· |
| All things that are, or being have, or those that mutely lie, | 14 | ·····/˘····/˘· |
| Have each its course to follow out, or object to descry; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Contributing its little share to that stupendous whole, | 14 | ˘/˘˘·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Where with man's teeming race combined creation's wonders roll. | 14 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| The poet, too, will contemplate th' Almighty Father's love, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Who to our restless minds, with light and darkness from above, | 14 | ··//˘····/˘··· |
| Hath given the heavens that glorious urn of tranquil majesty, | 15 | ·/·/˘·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Whence in unceasing stores we draw calm and serenity. | 14 | ··˘/˘·····˘/˘˘ |
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.