Peace
The calm outgoing of a long, rich day,Checkered with storm and sunshine, gloom and light,Now passing in pure, cloudless skies away,Withdrawing into silence of blank night.Thick shadows settle on the landscape bright,Like the weird cloud of death that falls apaceOn the still features of the passive face.
Soothing and gentle as a mother's kiss,The touch that stopped the beating of the heart.A look so blissfully serene as this,Not all the joy of living could impart.Patient to bide, yet willing to depart,With dauntless faith and courage therewithal,The Master found her ready at his call.
On such a golden evening forth there floats,Between the grave earth and the glowing skyIn the clear air, unvexed with hazy motes,The mystic-winged and flickering butterfly,A human soul, that drifts at liberty,Ah! who can tell to what strange paradise,To what undreamed-of fields and lofty skies!
Words in this poem
- outgoing n.
- The act or the state of going out.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- dauntless a.
- Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
- therewithal adv.
- Over and above; besides; moreover. Daniel.
- hazy a.
- Thick with haze; somewhat obscured with haze; not clear or transparent. [From Haze, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Peace 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, Peace, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/peace.html, id L01879.
Form and metre
Peace is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas; the stanza is the Rhyme royal. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyme royal, 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.
- 1 ABABBCC dayA · lightB · awayA · nightB · brightB · apaceC · faceC
- 2 ABABBCC kissA · heartB · thisA · impartB · departB · therewithalC · callC
- 3 ABAB--- floatsA · skyB · motesA · butterflyB · liberty · paradise · skies
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The calm outgoing of a long, rich day, | 10 | ··/·˘····· |
| Checkered with storm and sunshine, gloom and light, | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| Now passing in pure, cloudless skies away, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Withdrawing into silence of blank night. | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Thick shadows settle on the landscape bright, | 10 | ·/·/˘··/·· |
| Like the weird cloud of death that falls apace | 10 | ········˘/ |
| On the still features of the passive face. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Soothing and gentle as a mother's kiss, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| The touch that stopped the beating of the heart. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A look so blissfully serene as this, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Not all the joy of living could impart. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Patient to bide, yet willing to depart, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| With dauntless faith and courage therewithal, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| The Master found her ready at his call. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| On such a golden evening forth there floats, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Between the grave earth and the glowing sky | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In the clear air, unvexed with hazy motes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The mystic-winged and flickering butterfly, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| A human soul, that drifts at liberty, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Ah! who can tell to what strange paradise, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To what undreamed-of fields and lofty skies! | 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.