The Last Music
Calmly, breathe calmly all your music, maids!Breathe a calm music over my dead queen.All your lives long, you have nor heard, nor seen,Fairer than she, whose hair in sombre braidsWith beauty overshadesHer brow, broad and serene.
Surely she hath lain so an hundred years:Peace is upon her, old as the world's heart.Breathe gently, music! Music done, depart:And leave me in her presence to my tears,With music in mine ears;For sorrow hath its art.
Music, more music, sad and slow! she liesDead: and more beautiful, than early morn.Discrowned am I, and of her looks forlorn:Alone vain memories immortalizeThe way of her soft eyes,Her musical voice low-borne.
The balm of gracious death now laps her round,As once life gave her grace beyond her peers.Strange! that I loved this lady of the spheres,To sleep by her at last in common ground:When kindly sleep hath boundMine eyes, and sealed mine ears.
Maidens! make a low music: merely makeSilence a melody, no more. This day,She travels down a pale and lonely way:Now, for a gentle comfort, let her takeSuch music, for her sake,As mourning love can play.
Holy my queen lies in the arms of death:Music moves over her still face, and ILean breathing love over her. She will lieIn earth thus calmly, under the wind's breath:The twilight wind, that saith:Rest! worthy found, to die.
Words in this poem
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- 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]
- immortalize v. t.
- To render immortal; to cause to live or exist forever. S. Clarke. [Cf. F. immortaliser.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Last Music 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 Last Music, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/the-last-music.html, id L12497.
Form and metre
The Last Music is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABBAAB maidsA · queenB · seenB · braidsA · overshadesA · sereneB
- 2 ABBAAB yearsA · heartB · departB · tearsA · earsA · artB
- 3 ABBAAB liesA · mornB · forlornB · immortalizeA · eyesA · borneB
- 4 ABBAAB roundA · peersB · spheresB · groundA · boundA · earsB
- 5 ABBAAB makeA · dayB · wayB · takeA · sakeA · playB
- 6 ABBAAB deathA · iB · lieB · breathA · saithA · dieB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Calmly, breathe calmly all your music, maids! | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Breathe a calm music over my dead queen. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All your lives long, you have nor heard, nor seen, | 10 | ·········· |
| Fairer than she, whose hair in sombre braids | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| With beauty overshades | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Her brow, broad and serene. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Surely she hath lain so an hundred years: | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Peace is upon her, old as the world's heart. | 10 | ·········· |
| Breathe gently, music! Music done, depart: | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And leave me in her presence to my tears, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With music in mine ears; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For sorrow hath its art. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Music, more music, sad and slow! she lies | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Dead: and more beautiful, than early morn. | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Discrowned am I, and of her looks forlorn: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Alone vain memories immortalize | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| The way of her soft eyes, | 6 | ······ |
| Her musical voice low-borne. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The balm of gracious death now laps her round, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As once life gave her grace beyond her peers. | 10 | ·········· |
| Strange! that I loved this lady of the spheres, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To sleep by her at last in common ground: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When kindly sleep hath bound | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Mine eyes, and sealed mine ears. | 6 | ······ |
| Maidens! make a low music: merely make | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Silence a melody, no more. This day, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| She travels down a pale and lonely way: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Now, for a gentle comfort, let her take | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Such music, for her sake, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| As mourning love can play. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Holy my queen lies in the arms of death: | 10 | /˘········ |
| Music moves over her still face, and I | 10 | /˘········ |
| Lean breathing love over her. She will lie | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In earth thus calmly, under the wind's breath: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The twilight wind, that saith: | 6 | ·/···· |
| Rest! worthy found, to die. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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