The Prophet
AH, my darling, when over the purple horizon shallloomThe shrouded mother of a new idea, men hide theirfaces,Cry out and fend her off, as she seeks her procreantgroom,Wounding themselves against her, denying herfecund embraces.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- fend v. t.
- To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward off; to shut out; -- often with off; as, to fend off blows. [Abbrev. fr. defend.]
- procreant a.
- Generating; producing; productive; fruitful; assisting in procreation. [L. procreans, p. pr. of procreare. See Procreate.]
- fecund a.
- Fruitful in children; prolific. Graunt. [L. fecundus, from the root of fetus: cf. F. fécond. see Fetus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Prophet 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, The Prophet, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/the-prophet.html, id L13559.
Form and metre
The Prophet is 8 lines in a single stanza. 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% 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 -A-B-A-B shall · loomA · their · facesB · procreant · groomA · her · embracesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AH, my darling, when over the purple horizon shall | 13 | ··/˘···/˘˘/˘· |
| loom | 1 | · |
| The shrouded mother of a new idea, men hide their | 13 | ·/˘/˘···˘/··· |
| faces, | 2 | /˘ |
| Cry out and fend her off, as she seeks her procreant | 13 | ··········/˘˘ |
| groom, | 1 | · |
| Wounding themselves against her, denying her | 11 | /˘˘/···˘/˘· |
| fecund embraces. | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
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.