In Praise of Gloriana's Remarkable Golden Hair
The gleaming head of one fine friendIs bent above my little song,So through the treasure-pits of HeavenIn fancy's shoes, I march along.
I wander, seek and peer and ponderIn Splendor's last ensnaring lair--'Mid burnished harps and burnished crownsWhere noble chariots gleam and flare:
Amid the spirit-coins and gems,The plates and cups and helms of fire--The gorgeous-treasure-pits of Heaven--Where angel-misers slake desire!
O endless treasure-pits of goldWhere silly angel-men make mirth--I think that I am there this hour,Though walking in the ways of earth!
Words in this poem
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Praise of Gloriana's Remarkable Golden Hair is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, In Praise of Gloriana's Remarkable Golden Hair, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/in-praise-of-gloriana-s-remarkable-golden-hair.html, id L00978.
Form and metre
In Praise of Gloriana's Remarkable Golden Hair is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 friend · songA · heaven · alongA
- 2 -A-A ponder · lairA · crowns · flareA
- 3 -A-A gems · fireA · heaven · desireA
- 4 -A-A gold · mirthA · hour · earthA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The gleaming head of one fine friend | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is bent above my little song, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So through the treasure-pits of Heaven | 8 | ···/˘··/ |
| In fancy's shoes, I march along. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I wander, seek and peer and ponder | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| In Splendor's last ensnaring lair-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| 'Mid burnished harps and burnished crowns | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where noble chariots gleam and flare: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Amid the spirit-coins and gems, | 7 | ˘/·/··· |
| The plates and cups and helms of fire-- | 8 | ·······/ |
| The gorgeous-treasure-pits of Heaven-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··/ |
| Where angel-misers slake desire! | 7 | ·/˘/·˘/ |
| O endless treasure-pits of gold | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Where silly angel-men make mirth-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I think that I am there this hour, | 8 | ·······/ |
| Though walking in the ways of earth! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.