Nascent
MY world is a painted fresco, where coloured shapesOf old, ineffectual lives linger blurred and warm;An endless tapestry the past has woven drapesThe halls of my life, compelling my soul to conform.
The surface of dreams is broken,The picture of the past is shaken and scattered.Fluent, active figures of men pass along the railway,and I am wokenFrom the dreams that the distance flattered.
Along the railway, active figures of men.They have a secret that stirs in their limbs as theymoveOut of the distance, nearer, commanding my dreamyworld.
Here in the subtle, rounded fleshBeats the active ecstasy.In the sudden lifting my eyes, it is clearer,The fascination of the quick, restless Creator movingthrough the meshOf men, vibrating in ecstasy through the roundedflesh.
Oh my boys, bending over your books,In you is trembling and fusingThe creation of a new-patterned dream, dream of ageneration:And I watch to see the Creator, the power thatpatterns the dream.
The old dreams are beautiful, beloved, soft-toned,and sure,But the dream-stuff is molten and moving mysteriously,Alluring my eyes; for I, am I not also dream-stuff,Am I not quickening, diffusing myself in the pattern,shaping and shapen?
Here in my class is the answer for the great yearning:Eyes where I can watch the swim of old dreamsreflected on the molten metal of dreams,Watch the stir which is rhythmic and moves themall as a heart-beat moves the blood,Here in the swelling flesh the great activity working,Visible there in the change of eyes and the mobilefeatures.
Oh the great mystery and fascination of the unseenShaper,The power of the melting, fusing Force--heat,light, all in one,Everything great and mysterious in one, swelling andshaping the dream in the flesh,As it swells and shapes a bud into blossom.
Oh the terrible ecstasy of the consciousness that Iam life!Oh the miracle of the whole, the widespread, labouringconcentrationSwelling mankind like one bud to bring forth thefruit of a dream,Oh the terror of lifting the innermost I out of thesweep of the impulse of life,And watching the great Thing labouring through thewhole round flesh of the world;And striving to catch a glimpse of the shape of thecoming dream,As it quickens within the labouring, white-hot metal,Catch the scent and the colour of the coming dream,Then to fall back exhausted into the unconscious,molten life!
Words in this poem
- fresco n.
- A cool, refreshing state of the air; duskiness; coolness; shade. [It., fr. fresco fresh; of German origin. See Fresh, a.]
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- fascination n.
- The act of fascinating, bewhiching, or enchanting; enchantment; witchcraft; the exercise of a powerful or irresistible influence on the affections or passions; unseen, inexplicable influence. [L. fascinatio; cf. F. fascination.]
- mesh n.
- The opening or space inclosed by the threads of a net between knot and knot, or the threads inclosing such a space; network; a net. [AS. masc, max, m; akin to D. maas, masche, OHG. masca, Icel. möskvi; cf. Lith. mazgas a knot, megsti to weave nets, to knot.]
- mysteriously adv.
- In a mysterious manner.
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- shaper n.
- One who shapes; as, the shaper of one's fortunes.
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nascent is in the public domain. This text is taken from Amores: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22531; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: D. H. Lawrence, Nascent, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/nascent.html, id L13553.
Form and metre
Nascent is 64 lines in 9 stanzas. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 23 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 shapesA · warmB · drapesA · conformB
- 2 AB-AB brokenA · scatteredB · railway · wokenA · flatteredB
- 4 A---A-A fleshA · ecstasy · clearer · moving · meshA · rounded · fleshA
- 7 -AA----- yearning · dreamsA · dreamsA · them · blood · working · mobile · features
- 9 -A--BCBAB-BC-C-A i · lifeA · labouring · concentration · theB · dreamC · theB · lifeA · theB · world · theB · dreamC · metal · dreamC · unconscious · lifeA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| MY world is a painted fresco, where coloured shapes | 12 | ····/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Of old, ineffectual lives linger blurred and warm; | 12 | ···˘/˘·/˘··· |
| An endless tapestry the past has woven drapes | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| The halls of my life, compelling my soul to conform. | 13 | ·····˘/˘···˘/ |
| The surface of dreams is broken, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| The picture of the past is shaken and scattered. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Fluent, active figures of men pass along the railway, | 14 | /˘/˘/˘···˘/·/· |
| and I am woken | 5 | ···/˘ |
| From the dreams that the distance flattered. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Along the railway, active figures of men. | 11 | ˘/·/·/˘/˘·· |
| They have a secret that stirs in their limbs as they | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| move | 1 | · |
| Out of the distance, nearer, commanding my dreamy | 13 | ···/˘/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| world. | 1 | · |
| Here in the subtle, rounded flesh | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Beats the active ecstasy. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| In the sudden lifting my eyes, it is clearer, | 12 | ··/˘/˘····/˘ |
| The fascination of the quick, restless Creator moving | 15 | ··˘/˘···/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| through the mesh | 3 | ··· |
| Of men, vibrating in ecstasy through the rounded | 11 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| flesh. | 1 | · |
| Oh my boys, bending over your books, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| In you is trembling and fusing | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| The creation of a new-patterned dream, dream of a | 13 | ·˘/˘···/˘···· |
| generation: | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| And I watch to see the Creator, the power that | 12 | ······˘/˘·/· |
| patterns the dream. | 4 | /˘·· |
| The old dreams are beautiful, beloved, soft-toned, | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| and sure, | 2 | ·· |
| But the dream-stuff is molten and moving mysteriously, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Alluring my eyes; for I, am I not also dream-stuff, | 14 | ˘/˘·······/˘·· |
| Am I not quickening, diffusing myself in the pattern, | 14 | ···/˘˘/˘·/··/˘ |
| shaping and shapen? | 5 | /˘··· |
| Here in my class is the answer for the great yearning: | 13 | ······/˘···/˘ |
| Eyes where I can watch the swim of old dreams | 10 | ·········· |
| reflected on the molten metal of dreams, | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| Watch the stir which is rhythmic and moves them | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| all as a heart-beat moves the blood, | 8 | ········ |
| Here in the swelling flesh the great activity working, | 13 | ···/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| Visible there in the change of eyes and the mobile | 12 | /˘········/˘ |
| features. | 2 | /˘ |
| Oh the great mystery and fascination of the unseen | 14 | ···/˘··˘/˘··˘/ |
| Shaper, | 2 | /˘ |
| The power of the melting, fusing Force--heat, | 10 | ·/··/˘/˘·· |
| light, all in one, | 4 | ···· |
| Everything great and mysterious in one, swelling and | 13 | /˘···˘/˘··/˘· |
| shaping the dream in the flesh, | 7 | /˘····· |
| As it swells and shapes a bud into blossom. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Oh the terrible ecstasy of the consciousness that I | 12 | ··/˘/˘··/˘·· |
| am life! | 2 | ·· |
| Oh the miracle of the whole, the widespread, labouring | 12 | ··/˘····///˘ |
| concentration | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Swelling mankind like one bud to bring forth the | 11 | /˘//······· |
| fruit of a dream, | 4 | ···· |
| Oh the terror of lifting the innermost I out of the | 15 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘····· |
| sweep of the impulse of life, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And watching the great Thing labouring through the | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| whole round flesh of the world; | 6 | ······ |
| And striving to catch a glimpse of the shape of the | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| coming dream, | 3 | /˘· |
| As it quickens within the labouring, white-hot metal, | 13 | ··/˘···/˘··/˘ |
| Catch the scent and the colour of the coming dream, | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| Then to fall back exhausted into the unconscious, | 13 | ····˘/˘····/˘ |
| molten life! | 3 | /˘· |
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.