Resurrection
Sometimes in morning sunlights by the riverWhere in the early fall long grasses wave,Light winds from over the moorland sink and shiverAnd sigh as if just blown across a grave.
And then I pause and listen to this sighing.I look with strange eyes on the well-known stream.I hear wild birth-cries uttered by the dying.I know men waking who appear to dream.
Then from the water-lilies slow uprisesThe still vast face of all the life I know,Changed now, and full of wonders and surprises,With fire in eyes that once were glazed with snow.
Fair now the brows old Pain had erewhile wrinkled,And peace and strength about the calm mouth dwell.Clean of the ashes that Repentance sprinkled,The meek head poises like a flower-bell.
All the old scars of wanton wars are vanished;And what blue bruises grappling Sense had leftAnd sad remains of redder stains are banished,And the dim blotch of heart-committed theft.
O still vast vision of transfigured featuresUnvisited by secret crimes or dooms,Remain, remain amid these water-creatures,Stand, shine among yon water-lily blooms.
For eighteen centuries ripple down the river,And windy times the stalks of empires wave,-- Let the winds come from the moor and sigh and shiver,Fain, fain am I, O Christ, to pass the grave.
The Day was dying; his breathWavered away in a hectic gleam;And I said, if Life's a dream, and DeathAnd Love and all are dreams -- I'll dream.
A mist came over the bayLike as a dream would over an eye.The mist was white and the dream was greyAnd both contained a human cry,
The burthen whereof was "Love",And it filled both mist and dream with pain,And the hills below and the skies aboveWere touched and uttered it back again.
The mist broke: down the riftA kind ray shot from a holy star.Then my dream did waver and break and lift --Through it, O Love, shone thy face, afar.
So Boyhood sets: comes Youth,A painful night of mists and dreams;That broods till Love's exquisite truth,The star of a morn-clear manhood, beams.
Words in this poem
- moorland n.
- Land consisting of a moor or moors. [AS. morland.]
- erewhile adv.
- Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- blotch n.
- A blot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also Fig.; as, a moral blotch. [Cf. OE. blacche in blacchepot blacking pot, akin to black, as bleach is akin to bleak. See Black, a., or cf. Blot a spot.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- hectic a.
- Habitual; constitutional; pertaining especially to slow waste of animal tissue, as in consumption; as, a hectic type in disease; a hectic flush. [F. hectique, Gr. sah to overpower, endure; cf. AS. sige, sigor, victory, G. sieg, Goth. sigis. Cf. Scheme.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- waver v. i.
- To play or move to and fro; to move one way and the other; hence, to totter; to reel; to swing; to flutter. [OE. waveren, from AS. wæfre wavering, restless. See Wave, v. i.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- boyhood n.
- The state of being a boy; the time during which one is a boy. [Boy + -hood.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Resurrection 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, Resurrection, in Poems (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #579, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lanier-poems/resurrection.html, id L07687.
Form and metre
Resurrection is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 11 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% 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 ABAB riverA · waveB · shiverA · graveB
- 2 ABAB sighingA · streamB · dyingA · dreamB
- 3 -A-A uprises · knowA · surprises · snowA
- 4 ABAB wrinkledA · dwellB · sprinkledA · bellB
- 5 ABAB vanishedA · leftB · banishedA · theftB
- 6 ABAB featuresA · doomsB · creaturesA · bloomsB
- 7 ABAB riverA · waveB · shiverA · graveB
- 8 ABAB breathA · gleamB · deathA · dreamB
- 9 ABAB bayA · eyeB · greyA · cryB
- 10 ABAB loveA · painB · aboveA · againB
- 11 ABAB riftA · starB · liftA · afarB
- 12 ABAB youthA · dreamsB · truthA · beamsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sometimes in morning sunlights by the river | 11 | ˘/·/˘/···/˘ |
| Where in the early fall long grasses wave, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Light winds from over the moorland sink and shiver | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| And sigh as if just blown across a grave. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And then I pause and listen to this sighing. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| I look with strange eyes on the well-known stream. | 10 | ·········· |
| I hear wild birth-cries uttered by the dying. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| I know men waking who appear to dream. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Then from the water-lilies slow uprises | 11 | ···/˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| The still vast face of all the life I know, | 10 | ·········· |
| Changed now, and full of wonders and surprises, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| With fire in eyes that once were glazed with snow. | 10 | ·/········ |
| Fair now the brows old Pain had erewhile wrinkled, | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| And peace and strength about the calm mouth dwell. | 10 | ·········· |
| Clean of the ashes that Repentance sprinkled, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| The meek head poises like a flower-bell. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| All the old scars of wanton wars are vanished; | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| And what blue bruises grappling Sense had left | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And sad remains of redder stains are banished, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| And the dim blotch of heart-committed theft. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| O still vast vision of transfigured features | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Unvisited by secret crimes or dooms, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Remain, remain amid these water-creatures, | 11 | ˘/˘/˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Stand, shine among yon water-lily blooms. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| For eighteen centuries ripple down the river, | 11 | ·///˘/˘··/˘ |
| And windy times the stalks of empires wave, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| -- Let the winds come from the moor and sigh and shiver, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Fain, fain am I, O Christ, to pass the grave. | 10 | ·········· |
| The Day was dying; his breath | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Wavered away in a hectic gleam; | 10 | /˘˘˘/··/˘· |
| And I said, if Life's a dream, and Death | 9 | ········· |
| And Love and all are dreams -- I'll dream. | 8 | ········ |
| A mist came over the bay | 7 | ······· |
| Like as a dream would over an eye. | 9 | ········· |
| The mist was white and the dream was grey | 9 | ········· |
| And both contained a human cry, | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| The burthen whereof was "Love", | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And it filled both mist and dream with pain, | 10 | ···˘······ |
| And the hills below and the skies above | 10 | ·········· |
| Were touched and uttered it back again. | 10 | ··˘·/˘··˘/ |
| The mist broke: down the rift | 6 | ······ |
| A kind ray shot from a holy star. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Then my dream did waver and break and lift -- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Through it, O Love, shone thy face, afar. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| So Boyhood sets: comes Youth, | 6 | ·/···· |
| A painful night of mists and dreams; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That broods till Love's exquisite truth, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| The star of a morn-clear manhood, beams. | 9 | ······/·· |
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.