Fragment of an Ode to the Moon
Mild orb, who floatest through the realm of night,A pathless wanderer o'er a lonely wild,Welcome to me thy soft and pensive light,Which oft in childhood my lone thoughts beguiled.Now doubly dear as o'er my silent seat,Nocturnal study's still retreat,It casts a mournful melancholy gleam,And through my lofty casement weaves,Dim through the vine's encircling leaves,An intermingled beam.
These feverish dews that on my temples hang,This quivering lip, these eyes of dying flame;These the dread signs of many a secret pang,These are the meed of him who pants for fame!Pale Moon, from thoughts like these divert my soul;Lowly I kneel before thy shrine on high;My lamp expires;--beneath thy mild controlThese restless dreams are ever wont to fly.
Come, kindred mourner, in my breastSoothe these discordant tones to rest,And breathe the soul of peace;Mild visitor, I feel thee here,It is not pain that brings this tear,For thou hast bid it cease.Oh! many, a year has pass'd awaySince I, beneath thy fairy ray,Attuned my infant reed;When wilt thou, Time, those days restore,Those happy moments now no more--
When on the lake's damp marge I lay,And mark'd the northern meteor's dance,Bland Hope and Fancy, ye were thereTo inspirate my trance.Twin sisters, faintly now ye deignYour magic sweets on me to shed,In vain your powers are now essay'dTo chase superior pain.
And art thou fled, thou welcome orb!So swiftly pleasure flies,So to mankind, in darkness lost,The beam of ardour dies.Wan Moon, thy nightly task is done,And now, encurtain'd in the main,Thou sinkest into rest;But I, in vain, on thorny bedShall woo the god of soft repose--
Words in this poem
- pathless a.
- Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- 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.]
- mourner n.
- One who mourns or is grieved at any misfortune, as the death of a friend.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fragment of an Ode to the Moon is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, Fragment of an Ode to the Moon, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/fragment-of-an-ode-to-the-moon.html, id L10106.
Form and metre
Fragment of an Ode to the Moon is 46 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABCCDEED nightA · wildB · lightA · beguiledB · seatC · retreatC · gleamD · weavesE · leavesE · beamD
- 2 ABABCDCD hangA · flameB · pangA · fameB · soulC · highD · controlC · flyD
- 3 AABCCBDD-EE breastA · restA · peaceB · hereC · tearC · ceaseB · awayD · rayD · reed · restoreE · moreE
- 4 -A-AB--B lay · danceA · there · tranceA · deignB · shed · essay'd · painB
- 5 -A-A----- orb · fliesA · lost · diesA · done · main · rest · bed · repose
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Mild orb, who floatest through the realm of night, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A pathless wanderer o'er a lonely wild, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Welcome to me thy soft and pensive light, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Which oft in childhood my lone thoughts beguiled. | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Now doubly dear as o'er my silent seat, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Nocturnal study's still retreat, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| It casts a mournful melancholy gleam, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘· |
| And through my lofty casement weaves, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Dim through the vine's encircling leaves, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| An intermingled beam. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| These feverish dews that on my temples hang, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| This quivering lip, these eyes of dying flame; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| These the dread signs of many a secret pang, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| These are the meed of him who pants for fame! | 10 | ·········· |
| Pale Moon, from thoughts like these divert my soul; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Lowly I kneel before thy shrine on high; | 10 | /˘········ |
| My lamp expires;--beneath thy mild control | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| These restless dreams are ever wont to fly. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Come, kindred mourner, in my breast | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Soothe these discordant tones to rest, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And breathe the soul of peace; | 6 | ······ |
| Mild visitor, I feel thee here, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| It is not pain that brings this tear, | 8 | ········ |
| For thou hast bid it cease. | 6 | ······ |
| Oh! many, a year has pass'd away | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| Since I, beneath thy fairy ray, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Attuned my infant reed; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| When wilt thou, Time, those days restore, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Those happy moments now no more-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When on the lake's damp marge I lay, | 8 | ········ |
| And mark'd the northern meteor's dance, | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| Bland Hope and Fancy, ye were there | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To inspirate my trance. | 6 | ······ |
| Twin sisters, faintly now ye deign | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Your magic sweets on me to shed, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In vain your powers are now essay'd | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To chase superior pain. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| And art thou fled, thou welcome orb! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So swiftly pleasure flies, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| So to mankind, in darkness lost, | 8 | ··//·/˘· |
| The beam of ardour dies. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wan Moon, thy nightly task is done, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And now, encurtain'd in the main, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou sinkest into rest; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But I, in vain, on thorny bed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall woo the god of soft repose-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
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.