The Dove
If haply thou, O Desdemona Morn,Shouldst call along the curving sphere, "Remain,Dear Night, sweet Moor; nay, leave me not in scorn!"With soft halloos of heavenly love and pain; --
Shouldst thou, O Spring! a-cower in coverts dark,'Gainst proud supplanting Summer sing thy plea,And move the mighty woods through mailed barkTill mortal heart-break throbbed in every tree; --
Or (grievous `if' that may be `yea' o'er-soon!),If thou, my Heart, long holden from thy Sweet,Shouldst knock Death's door with mellow shocks of tune,Sad inquiry to make -- `When may we meet?'
Nay, if ye three, O Morn! O Spring! O Heart!Should chant grave unisons of grief and love;Ye could not mourn with more melodious artThan daily doth yon dim sequestered dove.
I asked my heart to saySome word whose worth my love's devoir might payUpon my Lady's natal day.
Then said my heart to me:`Learn from the rhyme that now shall come to theeWhat fits thy Love most lovingly.'
This gift that learning shows;For, as a rhyme unto its rhyme-twin goes,I send a rose unto a Rose.
The storm hath blown thee a lover, sweet,And laid him kneeling at thy feet.But, -- guerdon rich for favor rare!The wind hath all thy holy hairTo kiss and to sing through and to flareLike torch-flames in the passionate air,About thee, O Miranda.
Eyes in a blaze, eyes in a daze,Bold with love, cold with amaze,Chaste-thrilling eyes, fast-filling eyesWith daintiest tears of love's surprise,Ye draw my soul unto your blueAs warm skies draw the exhaling dew,Divine eyes of Miranda.
And if I were yon stolid stone,Thy tender arm doth lean upon,Thy touch would turn me to a heart,And I would palpitate and start,-- Content, when thou wert gone, to beA dumb rock by the lonesome seaForever, O Miranda.
Words in this poem
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- 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.]
- mailed a.
- Protected by an external coat, or covering, of scales or plates.
- devoir n.
- Duty; service owed; hence, due act of civility or respect; -- now usually in the plural; as, they paid their devoirs to the ladies. [F., fr. L. debere to owe. See Due.]
- natal a.
- Of or pertaining to one's birth; accompying or dating from one's birth; native. [L. natalis, fr. natus, p.p. of nasci to be born: cf. F. natal. See Nation, and cf. Noel.]
- 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,]
- lovingly adv.
- With love; affectionately.
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- daze v. t.
- To stupefy with excess of light; with a blow, with cold, or with fear; to confuse; to benumb. [OE. dasen, prob. from Icel. dasask to become weary, a reflexive verb; cf. Sw. dasa to lie idle, and OD. daesen to be foolish, insane, daes, dwaes, D. dwaas, foo]
- amaze v. t.
- To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
- stolid a.
- Hopelessly insensible or stupid; not easily aroused or excited; dull; impassive; foolish. [L. stolidus.]
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Dove 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, The Dove, in Poems (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #579, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lanier-poems/the-dove.html, id L07645.
Form and metre
The Dove is 46 lines in 10 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 4 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 ABAB mornA · remainB · scornA · painB
- 2 ABAB darkA · pleaB · barkA · treeB
- 3 ABAB soonA · sweetB · tuneA · meetB
- 4 ABAB heartA · loveB · artA · doveB
- 5 AAA sayA · payA · dayA
- 6 AA- meA · theeA · lovingly
- 7 AAA showsA · goesA · roseA
- 8 AABBBB- sweetA · feetA · rareB · hairB · flareB · airB · miranda
- 9 AABBCC- dazeA · amazeA · eyesB · surpriseB · blueC · dewC · miranda
- 10 --AABB- stone · upon · heartA · startA · beB · seaB · miranda
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If haply thou, O Desdemona Morn, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Shouldst call along the curving sphere, "Remain, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Dear Night, sweet Moor; nay, leave me not in scorn!" | 10 | ·········· |
| With soft halloos of heavenly love and pain; -- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Shouldst thou, O Spring! a-cower in coverts dark, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| 'Gainst proud supplanting Summer sing thy plea, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| And move the mighty woods through mailed bark | 10 | ···/˘···˘· |
| Till mortal heart-break throbbed in every tree; -- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Or (grievous `if' that may be `yea' o'er-soon!), | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| If thou, my Heart, long holden from thy Sweet, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Shouldst knock Death's door with mellow shocks of tune, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sad inquiry to make -- `When may we meet?' | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| Nay, if ye three, O Morn! O Spring! O Heart! | 10 | ·········· |
| Should chant grave unisons of grief and love; | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Ye could not mourn with more melodious art | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Than daily doth yon dim sequestered dove. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| I asked my heart to say | 6 | ······ |
| Some word whose worth my love's devoir might pay | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Upon my Lady's natal day. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Then said my heart to me: | 6 | ······ |
| `Learn from the rhyme that now shall come to thee | 10 | ·········· |
| What fits thy Love most lovingly.' | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| This gift that learning shows; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For, as a rhyme unto its rhyme-twin goes, | 10 | ·········· |
| I send a rose unto a Rose. | 8 | ········ |
| The storm hath blown thee a lover, sweet, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And laid him kneeling at thy feet. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But, -- guerdon rich for favor rare! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The wind hath all thy holy hair | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To kiss and to sing through and to flare | 9 | ········· |
| Like torch-flames in the passionate air, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| About thee, O Miranda. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Eyes in a blaze, eyes in a daze, | 8 | ········ |
| Bold with love, cold with amaze, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Chaste-thrilling eyes, fast-filling eyes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With daintiest tears of love's surprise, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ye draw my soul unto your blue | 8 | ········ |
| As warm skies draw the exhaling dew, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Divine eyes of Miranda. | 7 | ˘/··˘/˘ |
| And if I were yon stolid stone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy tender arm doth lean upon, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy touch would turn me to a heart, | 8 | ········ |
| And I would palpitate and start, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| -- Content, when thou wert gone, to be | 8 | /˘······ |
| A dumb rock by the lonesome sea | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Forever, O Miranda. | 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.