Cloud-Break
With a turn of his magical rod,That extended and suddenly shone,From the round of his glory some godLooks forth and is gone.
To the summit of heaven the cloudsAre rolling aloft like steam;There's a break in their infinite shrouds,And below it a gleam.O'er the drift of the river a whiffComes out from the blossoming shore;And the meadows are greening, as ifThey never were green before.
The islands are kindled with goldAnd russet and emerald dye;And the interval waters outrolledAre more blue than the sky.From my feet to the heart of the hillsThe spirits of May intervene,And a vapor of azure distillsLike a breath on the opaline green.
Only a moment!--and thenThe chill and the shadow decline,On the eyes of rejuvenate menThat were wide and divine.
Words in this poem
- whiff n.
- A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke. [OE. weffe vapor, whiff, probably of imitative origin; cf. Dan. vift a puff, gust, W. chwiff a whiff, puff.]
- greening n.
- A greenish apple, of several varieties, among which the Rhode Island greening is the best known for its fine-grained acid flesh and its excellent keeping quality.
- opaline a.
- Of, pertaining to, or like, opal in appearance; having changeable colors like those of the opal. [Cf. F. opalin.]
- rejuvenate v. t.
- To render young again. [Pref. re- re- + L. juventis young, youthful.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cloud-Break is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lyrics of Earth, Project Gutenberg ebook #12664; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Archibald Lampman, Cloud-Break, in Lyrics of Earth (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12664, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lampman-lyrics/cloud-break.html, id L11102.
Form and metre
Cloud-Break is 24 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 83% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 A-A- rodA · shone · godA · gone
- 2 ABABCDCD cloudsA · steamB · shroudsA · gleamB · whiffC · shoreD · ifC · beforeD
- 3 ABABCDCD goldA · dyeB · outrolledA · skyB · hillsC · interveneD · distillsC · greenD
- 4 ABAB thenA · declineB · menA · divineB
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| With a turn of his magical rod, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That extended and suddenly shone, | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| From the round of his glory some god | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Looks forth and is gone. | 5 | ····· |
| To the summit of heaven the clouds | 8 | ··/˘·/·· |
| Are rolling aloft like steam; | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| There's a break in their infinite shrouds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And below it a gleam. | 6 | ······ |
| O'er the drift of the river a whiff | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Comes out from the blossoming shore; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And the meadows are greening, as if | 9 | ··/··/˘·· |
| They never were green before. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The islands are kindled with gold | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| And russet and emerald dye; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And the interval waters outrolled | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Are more blue than the sky. | 6 | ······ |
| From my feet to the heart of the hills | 9 | ········· |
| The spirits of May intervene, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And a vapor of azure distills | 9 | ··/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Like a breath on the opaline green. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Only a moment!--and then | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| The chill and the shadow decline, | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| On the eyes of rejuvenate men | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| That were wide and divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.