Vigils
Song and silence ever beAll the grace, life bring to me:Song well winged with sunrise fire;Silence holy and entire:Silence of a marble sea,Song of an immortal lyre.
Take my thanks, who profferestWistful song and musical:Melodies memorial,Melancholy, augural:Meaning, that Old World is best:Ours, a witless palimpsest.
Not cool glades of FontainebleauHold the secret; not French plains,Crowned with monumental fanes;Not the Flemish waters' flow:Light the fair days come, light go:But the mystery remains.
Here, beneath the carven spires,We have dreams, revolts, desires:Here each ancient, haunted HallHolds its Brocken carnival;Where Philosophy attiresAll her forms, to suit us all.
In a ring her witches crowd:Faces passionate and proud,Luring eyes and voices loud:Death ends life: And life is death:Man is dust: The soul a breath:Who knows aught? Each fair Lie saith.
Master of the revel rout,Flaunts him Mephistopheles:Leading up, to where he seesFaith, alone and ill at ease,Many a winning, light-foot Doubt:Knows each other: dance it out!
Ah, the whirling, bacchant dance!Then no more Faith's crystal glancePierces the benighted skies:Then, for her inheritance,Hath she but each dream, that liesDying in her wildered eyes.
Breaking hearts! For you the larkCries at morn: for you the deepSilence deepens in the dark,When invisible angels markYour tired eyes, that burn and weep,Hardly wearied into sleep.
Fearful hearts! For you all songSighs, and laughs, and soars: for youLow-preluding winds prolongMeditative music throughTwilight: till for you there throngCalm stars, unprofaned and true.
Song and silence ever beAll the grace, life bring to me:Song of Mary, mighty Mother;Song of whom she bare, my Brother:Silence of an ecstasy,When I find Him, and none other.
Song thou sendest, singing fair:But what music past compareThat must be when, gathered home,Poor strayed children kneel in prayer:Confessors of ChristendomUnto thee, O royal Rome!
Silence all is mine aloneNow, before the altar throneDarkling, waiting, happier thus,Till the night watches be gone.Holy Aloysius!Holy Mother! pray for us.
Words in this poem
- wistful a.
- Longing; wishful; desirous. [For wishful; perhaps influenced by wistly, which is probably corrupted from OE. wisly certainly (from Icel. viss certain, akin to E. wit). See Wish.]
- augural a.
- Of or pertaining to augurs or to augury; betokening; ominous; significant; as, an augural staff; augural books. [L. auguralis.]
- witless a.
- Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
- palimpsest n.
- A parchment which has been written upon twice, the first writing having been erased to make place for the second. [L. palimpsestus, Gr. palimpseste.]
- monumental a.
- Of, pertaining to, or suitable for, a monument; as, a monumental inscription. [L. monumentalis: cf. F. monumental.]
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- bacchant n.
- A priest of Bacchus. [L. bacchans, - antis, p. pr. of bacchari to celebrate the festival of Bacchus.]
- 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.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- christendom n.
- The profession of faith in Christ by baptism; hence, the Christian religion, or the adoption of it. [AS. cristend; cristen a Christian + -dom.]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vigils 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, Vigils, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/vigils.html, id L12523.
Form and metre
Vigils is 72 lines in 12 stanzas of 6 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 AABBA- beA · meA · fireB · entireB · seaA · lyre
- 2 A---AA profferestA · musical · memorial · augural · bestA · palimpsestA
- 3 ABBAAB fontainebleauA · plainsB · fanesB · flowA · goA · remainsB
- 4 -ABBAB spires · desiresA · hallB · carnivalB · attiresA · allB
- 5 AAABBB crowdA · proudA · loudA · deathB · breathB · saithB
- 6 A-BBAA routA · mephistopheles · seesB · easeB · doubtA · outA
- 7 AABABB danceA · glanceA · skiesB · inheritanceA · liesB · eyesB
- 8 ABAABB larkA · deepB · darkA · markA · weepB · sleepB
- 9 ABABAB songA · youB · prolongA · throughB · throngA · trueB
- 10 AABB-B beA · meA · motherB · brotherB · ecstasy · otherB
- 11 AABABB fairA · compareA · homeB · prayerA · christendomB · romeB
- 12 AAB-BB aloneA · throneA · thusB · gone · aloysiusB · usB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Song and silence ever be | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| All the grace, life bring to me: | 7 | ······· |
| Song well winged with sunrise fire; | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| Silence holy and entire: | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Silence of a marble sea, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Song of an immortal lyre. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Take my thanks, who profferest | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Wistful song and musical: | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| Melodies memorial, | 7 | /˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Melancholy, augural: | 7 | /˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Meaning, that Old World is best: | 7 | /˘····· |
| Ours, a witless palimpsest. | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| Not cool glades of Fontainebleau | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hold the secret; not French plains, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Crowned with monumental fanes; | 8 | ·˘··˘/˘· |
| Not the Flemish waters' flow: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Light the fair days come, light go: | 7 | ······· |
| But the mystery remains. | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| Here, beneath the carven spires, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| We have dreams, revolts, desires: | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Here each ancient, haunted Hall | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Holds its Brocken carnival; | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Where Philosophy attires | 8 | ·˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| All her forms, to suit us all. | 7 | ······· |
| In a ring her witches crowd: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Faces passionate and proud, | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Luring eyes and voices loud: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Death ends life: And life is death: | 7 | ······· |
| Man is dust: The soul a breath: | 7 | ······· |
| Who knows aught? Each fair Lie saith. | 7 | ······· |
| Master of the revel rout, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Flaunts him Mephistopheles: | 6 | ······ |
| Leading up, to where he sees | 7 | /˘····· |
| Faith, alone and ill at ease, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Many a winning, light-foot Doubt: | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Knows each other: dance it out! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ah, the whirling, bacchant dance! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Then no more Faith's crystal glance | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Pierces the benighted skies: | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Then, for her inheritance, | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Hath she but each dream, that lies | 7 | ······· |
| Dying in her wildered eyes. | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Breaking hearts! For you the lark | 7 | /˘····· |
| Cries at morn: for you the deep | 7 | ······· |
| Silence deepens in the dark, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| When invisible angels mark | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Your tired eyes, that burn and weep, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Hardly wearied into sleep. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Fearful hearts! For you all song | 7 | /˘····· |
| Sighs, and laughs, and soars: for you | 7 | ······· |
| Low-preluding winds prolong | 7 | ·/·˘·˘/ |
| Meditative music through | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Twilight: till for you there throng | 7 | /······ |
| Calm stars, unprofaned and true. | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Song and silence ever be | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| All the grace, life bring to me: | 7 | ······· |
| Song of Mary, mighty Mother; | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Song of whom she bare, my Brother: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Silence of an ecstasy, | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| When I find Him, and none other. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Song thou sendest, singing fair: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| But what music past compare | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| That must be when, gathered home, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Poor strayed children kneel in prayer: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Confessors of Christendom | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Unto thee, O royal Rome! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Silence all is mine alone | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Now, before the altar throne | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Darkling, waiting, happier thus, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Till the night watches be gone. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Holy Aloysius! | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Holy Mother! pray for us. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
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