Laus Mariae
Across the brook of Time man leaping goesOn stepping-stones of epochs, that upriseFixed, memorable, midst broad shallow flowsOf neutrals, kill-times, sleeps, indifferencies.So twixt each morn and night rise salient heaps:Some cross with but a zigzag, jaded paceFrom meal to meal: some with convulsive leapsShake the green tussocks of malign disgrace:And some advance by system and deep artO'er vantages of wealth, place, learning, tact.But thou within thyself, dear manifold heart,Dost bind all epochs in one dainty Fact.Oh, sweet, my pretty sum of history,I leapt the breadth of Time in loving thee!
Words in this poem
- uprise v. i.
- To rise; to get up; to appear from below the horizon.
- memorable a.
- Worthy to be remembered; very important or remarkable. [L. memorabilis, fr. memorare to bring to remembrance, fr. memor mindful, remembering. See Memory, and cf. Memorabilia.]
- 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.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- tact n.
- The sense of touch; feeling. [L. tactus a touching, touch, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch: cf. F. tact. See Tangent.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Laus Mariae is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Sidney Lanier, Project Gutenberg ebook #579; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sidney Lanier, Laus Mariae, in Poems (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #579, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lanier-poems/laus-mariae.html, id L07629.
Form and metre
Laus Mariae is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AAA-BCBCDEDE-- goesA · upriseA · flowsA · indifferencies · heapsB · paceC · leapsB · disgraceC · artD · tactE · heartD · factE · history · thee
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Across the brook of Time man leaping goes | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| On stepping-stones of epochs, that uprise | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| Fixed, memorable, midst broad shallow flows | 10 | ·/˘˘˘··/˘· |
| Of neutrals, kill-times, sleeps, indifferencies. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| So twixt each morn and night rise salient heaps: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Some cross with but a zigzag, jaded pace | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| From meal to meal: some with convulsive leaps | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Shake the green tussocks of malign disgrace: | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| And some advance by system and deep art | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| O'er vantages of wealth, place, learning, tact. | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| But thou within thyself, dear manifold heart, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘·· |
| Dost bind all epochs in one dainty Fact. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Oh, sweet, my pretty sum of history, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| I leapt the breadth of Time in loving thee! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.