Restlessness
Would I had waked this morn where Florence smiles,A-bloom with beauty, a white rose full-blown,Yet rich in sacred dust, in storied stone,Precious past all the wealth of Indian isles--From olive-hoary Fiesole to feedOn Brunelleschi's dome my hungry eye,And see against the lotus-colored sky,Spring the slim belfry graceful as a reed.To kneel upon the ground where Dante trod,To breathe the air of immortalityFrom Angelo and Raphael--TO BE--Each sense new-quickened by a demi-god.To hear the liquid Tuscan speech at whiles,From citizen and peasant, to beholdThe heaven of Leonardo washed with gold--Would I had waked this morn where Florence smile!
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- belfry n.
- A movable tower erected by besiegers for purposes of attack and defense. [OE. berfray movable tower used in sieges, OF. berfreit, berfroit, F. beffroi, fr. MHG. bervrit, bercvrit, G. bergfriede, fr. MHG. bergen to protect (G. bergen t]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Restlessness 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, Restlessness, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/restlessness.html, id L01935.
Form and metre
Restlessness is 16 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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.
- 1 ABBACDDCE-DEAFF- smilesA · blownB · stoneB · islesA · feedC · eyeD · skyD · reedC · trodE · immortality · beD · godE · whilesA · beholdF · goldF · smile
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Would I had waked this morn where Florence smiles, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A-bloom with beauty, a white rose full-blown, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yet rich in sacred dust, in storied stone, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Precious past all the wealth of Indian isles-- | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| From olive-hoary Fiesole to feed | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| On Brunelleschi's dome my hungry eye, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And see against the lotus-colored sky, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Spring the slim belfry graceful as a reed. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To kneel upon the ground where Dante trod, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To breathe the air of immortality | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| From Angelo and Raphael--TO BE-- | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Each sense new-quickened by a demi-god. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To hear the liquid Tuscan speech at whiles, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| From citizen and peasant, to behold | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| The heaven of Leonardo washed with gold-- | 10 | ·/··˘/˘··· |
| Would I had waked this morn where Florence smile! | 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.