Off Rough Point
We sat at twilight nigh the sea,The fog hung gray and weird.Through the thick film uncannilyThe broken moon appeared.
We heard the billows crack and plunge,We saw nor waves nor ships.Earth sucked the vapors like a sponge,The salt spray wet our lips.
Closer the woof of white mist drew,Before, behind, beside.How could that phantom moon break through,Above that shrouded tide?
The roaring waters filled the ear,A white blank foiled the sight.Close-gathering shadows near, more near,Brought the blind, awful night.
O friends who passed unseen, unknown!O dashing, troubled sea!Still stand we on a rock alone,Walled round by mystery.
Words in this poem
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Off Rough Point 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, Off Rough Point, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/off-rough-point.html, id L01901.
Form and metre
Off Rough Point is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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-A sea · weirdA · uncannily · appearedA
- 2 ABAB plungeA · shipsB · spongeA · lipsB
- 3 ABAB drewA · besideB · throughA · tideB
- 4 ABAB earA · sightB · nearA · nightB
- 5 A-A- unknownA · sea · aloneA · mystery
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We sat at twilight nigh the sea, | 8 | ···/···· |
| The fog hung gray and weird. | 6 | ······ |
| Through the thick film uncannily | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| The broken moon appeared. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| We heard the billows crack and plunge, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We saw nor waves nor ships. | 6 | ······ |
| Earth sucked the vapors like a sponge, | 9 | ··˘·/˘··· |
| The salt spray wet our lips. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Closer the woof of white mist drew, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Before, behind, beside. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| How could that phantom moon break through, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Above that shrouded tide? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The roaring waters filled the ear, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘·· |
| A white blank foiled the sight. | 6 | ······ |
| Close-gathering shadows near, more near, | 9 | ·/˘˘/···· |
| Brought the blind, awful night. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O friends who passed unseen, unknown! | 9 | ····˘˘/˘/ |
| O dashing, troubled sea! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Still stand we on a rock alone, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Walled round by mystery. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
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.