The Age of a Dream
Imageries of dreams reveal a gracious age:Black armour, falling lace, and altar lights at morn.The courtesy of Saints, their gentleness and scorn,Lights on an earth more fair, than shone from Plato's page:The courtesy of knights, fair calm and sacred rage:The courtesy of love, sorrow for love's sake borne.Vanished, those high conceits! Desolate and forlorn,We hunger against hope for that lost heritage.
Gone now, the carven work! Ruined, the golden shrine!No more the glorious organs pour their voice divine;No more rich frankincense drifts through the Holy Place:Now from the broken tower, what solemn bell still tolls,Mourning what piteous death? Answer, O saddened souls!Who mourn the death of beauty and the death of grace.
Words in this poem
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- 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.]
- 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]
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Age of a Dream is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #66520; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lionel Johnson, The Age of a Dream, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/the-age-of-a-dream.html, id L12525.
Form and metre
The Age of a Dream is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABBAABBA ageA · mornB · scornB · pageA · rageA · borneB · forlornB · heritageA
- 2 AABCCB shrineA · divineA · placeB · tollsC · soulsC · graceB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Imageries of dreams reveal a gracious age: | 11 | /˘˘··˘/·/˘· |
| Black armour, falling lace, and altar lights at morn. | 12 | ·/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| The courtesy of Saints, their gentleness and scorn, | 12 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘·· |
| Lights on an earth more fair, than shone from Plato's page: | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| The courtesy of knights, fair calm and sacred rage: | 12 | ·/˘˘·····/˘· |
| The courtesy of love, sorrow for love's sake borne. | 12 | ·/˘˘··/˘···· |
| Vanished, those high conceits! Desolate and forlorn, | 12 | /˘··˘//˘˘·˘/ |
| We hunger against hope for that lost heritage. | 12 | ·/˘······/˘˘ |
| Gone now, the carven work! Ruined, the golden shrine! | 12 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| No more the glorious organs pour their voice divine; | 12 | ···/˘/˘···˘/ |
| No more rich frankincense drifts through the Holy Place: | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Now from the broken tower, what solemn bell still tolls, | 12 | ···/˘/·/˘··· |
| Mourning what piteous death? Answer, O saddened souls! | 13 | /˘·/˘˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Who mourn the death of beauty and the death of grace. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
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