Aspiration
Dark lies the earth, and bright with worlds the sky:That soft, large, lustrous star, that first outshone,Still holds us spelled with potent sorcery.
Dilating, shrinking, lightening, it hath wonOur spirit with its strange strong influence,And sways it as the tides beneath the moon.
What impulse this, o'ermastering heart and sense?Exalted, thrilled, the freed soul fain would soarUnto that point of shining prominence,
Craving new fields and some unheard-of shore,Yea, all the heavens, for her activity,To mount with daring flight, to hover o'er
Low hills of earth, flat meadows, level sea,And earthly joy and trouble. In this hourOf waning light and sound, of mystery,
Of shadowed love and beauty-veiled power,She feels her wings: she yearns to grasp her own,Knowing the utmost good to be her dower.
A dream! a dream! for at a touch 't is gone.O mocking spirit! thy mere fools are we,Unto the depths from heights celestial thrown.
From these blind gropings toward reality,This thirst for truth, this most pathetic needOf something to uplift, to justify,
To help and comfort while we faint and bleed,May we not draw, wrung from the last despair,Some argument of hope, some blessed creed,
That we can trust the faith which whispers prayer,The vanishings, the ecstasy, the gleam,The nameless aspiration, and the dream?
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- unheard a.
- Not heard; not perceived by the ear; as, words unheard by those present.
- hover n.
- A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- pathetic a.
- Expressing or showing anger; passionate. [L. patheticus, Gr. pathétique. See Pathos.]
- uplift v. t.
- To lift or raise aloft; to raise; to elevate; as, to uplift the arm; to uplift a rock.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- aspiration n.
- The act of aspirating; the pronunciation of a letter with a full or strong emission of breath; an aspirated sound. [L. aspiratio, fr. aspirare: cf. F. aspiration.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Aspiration is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #3295; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emma Lazarus, Aspiration, in Admetus, and Other Poems (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/aspiration.html, id L01889.
Form and metre
Aspiration is 30 lines in 10 stanzas of 3 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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.
- 3 A-A senseA · soar · prominenceA
- 9 A-A bleedA · despair · creedA
- 10 -AA prayer · gleamA · dreamA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dark lies the earth, and bright with worlds the sky: | 10 | ·········· |
| That soft, large, lustrous star, that first outshone, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Still holds us spelled with potent sorcery. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Dilating, shrinking, lightening, it hath won | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Our spirit with its strange strong influence, | 11 | /˘/˘····/˘˘ |
| And sways it as the tides beneath the moon. | 10 | ·········· |
| What impulse this, o'ermastering heart and sense? | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Exalted, thrilled, the freed soul fain would soar | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Unto that point of shining prominence, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Craving new fields and some unheard-of shore, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| Yea, all the heavens, for her activity, | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| To mount with daring flight, to hover o'er | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Low hills of earth, flat meadows, level sea, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| And earthly joy and trouble. In this hour | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Of waning light and sound, of mystery, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Of shadowed love and beauty-veiled power, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| She feels her wings: she yearns to grasp her own, | 10 | ·········· |
| Knowing the utmost good to be her dower. | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| A dream! a dream! for at a touch 't is gone. | 11 | ··········· |
| O mocking spirit! thy mere fools are we, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Unto the depths from heights celestial thrown. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| From these blind gropings toward reality, | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| This thirst for truth, this most pathetic need | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Of something to uplift, to justify, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| To help and comfort while we faint and bleed, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| May we not draw, wrung from the last despair, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Some argument of hope, some blessed creed, | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘· |
| That we can trust the faith which whispers prayer, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The vanishings, the ecstasy, the gleam, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘·· |
| The nameless aspiration, and the dream? | 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.