Sunset
From this windy bridge at rest,In some former curious hour,We have watched the city's hue,All along the orange west,Cupola and pointed tower,Darken into solid blue.
Tho' the biting north wind breaksFull across this drifted hold,Let us stand with icèd cheeksWatching westward as of old;
Past the violet mountain-headTo the farthest fringe of pine,Where far off the purple-redNarrows to a dusky line,And the last pale splendors dieSlowly from the olive sky;
Till the thin clouds wear awayInto threads of purple-gray,And the sudden stars betweenBrighten in the pallid green;
Till above the spacious east,Slow returnèd one by one,Like pale prisoners releasedFrom the dungeons of the sun,Capella and her train appearIn the glittering Charioteer;
Till the rounded moon shall growGreat above the eastern snow,Shining into burnished gold;And the silver earth outrolled,In the misty yellow light,Shall take on the width of night.
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- cupola n.
- A roof having a rounded form, hemispherical or nearly so; also, a celing having the same form. When on a large scale it is usually called dome. [It. cupola, LL. cupula, cuppula (cf. L. cupula little tub). fr. cupa, cuppa, cup; cf. L. cupa tub. So called on account of its resemblance to a cup turned over.]
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- capella n.
- A brilliant star in the constellation Auriga. [L., a little goet, dim. of caper a goat.]
- charioteer n.
- One who drives a chariot.
- 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
Sunset 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, Sunset, in Lyrics of Earth (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12664, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lampman-lyrics/sunset.html, id L11114.
Form and metre
Sunset is 32 lines in 6 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABCABC restA · hourB · hueC · westA · towerB · blueC
- 2 -A-A breaks · holdA · cheeks · oldA
- 3 ABABCC headA · pineB · redA · lineB · dieC · skyC
- 4 AABB awayA · grayA · betweenB · greenB
- 5 ABABCC eastA · oneB · releasedA · sunB · appearC · charioteerC
- 6 AABBCC growA · snowA · goldB · outrolledB · lightC · nightC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From this windy bridge at rest, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In some former curious hour, | 9 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| We have watched the city's hue, | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| All along the orange west, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Cupola and pointed tower, | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Darken into solid blue. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Tho' the biting north wind breaks | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Full across this drifted hold, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Let us stand with icèd cheeks | 6 | ······ |
| Watching westward as of old; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Past the violet mountain-head | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| To the farthest fringe of pine, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where far off the purple-red | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Narrows to a dusky line, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And the last pale splendors die | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Slowly from the olive sky; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Till the thin clouds wear away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Into threads of purple-gray, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the sudden stars between | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Brighten in the pallid green; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Till above the spacious east, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Slow returnèd one by one, | 6 | ······ |
| Like pale prisoners released | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| From the dungeons of the sun, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Capella and her train appear | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| In the glittering Charioteer; | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Till the rounded moon shall grow | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Great above the eastern snow, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Shining into burnished gold; | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| And the silver earth outrolled, | 8 | ··/˘···˘ |
| In the misty yellow light, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Shall take on the width of night. | 7 | ······· |
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.