The Creation of the Universe
My own King, King of the pure heavens,without pride, without contention,who didst create the folded world,my King ever-living, ever victorious.
King above the elements, surpassing the sun,King above the ocean depths,King in the South and North, in the West and East,with whom no contention can be made.
King of the Mysteries, who wast and art,before the elements, before the ages,King yet eternal, comely His aspect,King without beginning, without end.
King who created lustrous heaven,who is not arrogant, not overweening,and the earth, with its multitudinous delights,strong, powerful, stable.
King who didst make the noble brightness,and the darkness, with its gloom;the one, the perfect day,the other, the very perfect night.
King who fashioned the vast deepsout of the primary stuff of the elements,who ...the wondrous formless mass.
King who formed out of it each element,who confirmed them without restriction, a lovely mystery,both tempestuous and serene,both animate and inanimate.
King who hewed, gloriously, with energy,out of the very shapely primal stuff,the heavy, round earth,with foundations, ... length and breadth.
King who shaped within no narrow limitsin the circle of the firmamentthe globe, fashionedlike a goodly apple, truly round.
King who formed after that with fixitythe fresh masses about the earth;the very smooth currents above the worldof the chill watery air.
King who didst sift the cold excellent wateron the earth-mass of the noble cliffsinto rills, with the reservoirs of the streams,according to their measures, with moderation.
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- multitudinous a.
- Consisting of a multitude; manifold in number or condition; as, multitudinous waves.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- formless a.
- Shapeless; without a determinate form; wanting regularity of shape.
- shapely a.
- Well-formed; having a regular shape; comely; symmetrical. T.
- primal a.
- First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- fixity n.
- Fixedness; as, fixity of tenure; also, that which is fixed. [Cf. F. fixité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Creation of the Universe is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Hull, The Creation of the Universe, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-creation-of-the-universe.html, id L11655.
Form and metre
The Creation of the Universe is 44 lines in 11 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 18 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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.
- 9 --AA limits · firmament · fashionedA · roundA
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My own King, King of the pure heavens, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| without pride, without contention, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| who didst create the folded world, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| my King ever-living, ever victorious. | 9 | ··//˘/˘/˘ |
| King above the elements, surpassing the sun, | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘·· |
| King above the ocean depths, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| King in the South and North, in the West and East, | 11 | ··········· |
| with whom no contention can be made. | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| King of the Mysteries, who wast and art, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| before the elements, before the ages, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| King yet eternal, comely His aspect, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·/· |
| King without beginning, without end. | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| King who created lustrous heaven, | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| who is not arrogant, not overweening, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| and the earth, with its multitudinous delights, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| strong, powerful, stable. | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| King who didst make the noble brightness, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| and the darkness, with its gloom; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| the one, the perfect day, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| the other, the very perfect night. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/· |
| King who fashioned the vast deeps | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| out of the primary stuff of the elements, | 11 | ···/·˘···/˘ |
| who ... | 1 | · |
| the wondrous formless mass. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| King who formed out of it each element, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| who confirmed them without restriction, a lovely mystery, | 14 | ·˘/···˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| both tempestuous and serene, | 8 | ··/˘˘·˘/ |
| both animate and inanimate. | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| King who hewed, gloriously, with energy, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| out of the very shapely primal stuff, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| the heavy, round earth, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| with foundations, ... length and breadth. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| King who shaped within no narrow limits | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| in the circle of the firmament | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| the globe, fashioned | 4 | ··/˘ |
| like a goodly apple, truly round. | 9 | ··/˘/˘/˘· |
| King who formed after that with fixity | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| the fresh masses about the earth; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| the very smooth currents above the world | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| of the chill watery air. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| King who didst sift the cold excellent water | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| on the earth-mass of the noble cliffs | 9 | ······/˘· |
| into rills, with the reservoirs of the streams, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| according to their measures, with moderation. | 12 | ˘/˘··/˘··˘/˘ |
Notes from the edition 3
Eleanor Hull's notes to The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912; Project Gutenberg #46917).
- Stanza 1, line 3 Whitley Stokes gives "lawful."
- Stanza 8, line 4 Comp. the parallel passage in Senchus mòr, Ancient Laws of Ireland, vol. i. intro. p. 26.
- Stanza 11, line 3 This is Dr. Whitley Stokes' reading. Dr. R. Thurneysen reads "sextarii."
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.