Interlude
Well pleased the audience heard the tale.The Theologian said: "Indeed,To praise you there is little need;One almost hears the farmers flailThresh out your wheat, nor does there failA certain freshness, as you said,And sweetness as of home-made bread.But not less sweet and not less freshAre many legends that I know,Writ by the monks of long-ago,Who loved to mortify the flesh,So that the soul might purer grow,And rise to a diviner state;And one of these--perhaps of allMost beautiful--I now recall,And with permission will narrate;Hoping thereby to make amendsFor that grim tragedy of mine,As strong and black as Spanish wine,I told last night, and wish almostIt had remained untold, my friends;For Torquemada's awful ghostCame to me in the dreams I dreamed,And in the darkness glared and gleamedLike a great lighthouse on the coast."
The Student laughing said: "Far moreLike to some dismal fire of baleFlaring portentous on a hill;Or torches lighted on a shoreBy wreckers in a midnight gale.No matter; be it as you will,Only go forward with your tale."
Words in this poem
- thresh v. t.
- To beat out grain from, as straw or husks; to beat the straw or husk of (grain) with a flail; to beat off, as the kernels of grain; as, to thrash wheat, rye, or oats; to thrash over the old straw. [OE. , , to beat, AS. , ; akin to D. dorschen, OD. derschen, G. dreschen, OHG. dreskan, Icel. , Sw. tröska, Dan. tærske, Goth. , Lith. traszketi to rattle, Russ.]
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- portentous a.
- Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. [L. portentosus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Interlude is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Interlude, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/interlude-16.html, id L26301.
Form and metre
Interlude is 32 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABBAACCDEEDEFGGFHIIJHJKKJ taleA · indeedB · needB · flailA · failA · saidC · breadC · freshD · knowE · agoE · fleshD · growE · stateF · allG · recallG · narrateF · amendsH · mineI · wineI · almostJ · friendsH · ghostJ · dreamedK · gleamedK · coastJ
- 2 ABCABCB moreA · baleB · hillC · shoreA · galeB · willC · taleB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Well pleased the audience heard the tale. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Theologian said: "Indeed, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| To praise you there is little need; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| One almost hears the farmers flail | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Thresh out your wheat, nor does there fail | 8 | ········ |
| A certain freshness, as you said, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And sweetness as of home-made bread. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But not less sweet and not less fresh | 8 | ········ |
| Are many legends that I know, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Writ by the monks of long-ago, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Who loved to mortify the flesh, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So that the soul might purer grow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And rise to a diviner state; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And one of these--perhaps of all | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Most beautiful--I now recall, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| And with permission will narrate; | 8 | ··˘/˘·/· |
| Hoping thereby to make amends | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| For that grim tragedy of mine, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| As strong and black as Spanish wine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I told last night, and wish almost | 8 | ······/· |
| It had remained untold, my friends; | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| For Torquemada's awful ghost | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Came to me in the dreams I dreamed, | 8 | ········ |
| And in the darkness glared and gleamed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like a great lighthouse on the coast." | 8 | ···/···· |
| The Student laughing said: "Far more | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Like to some dismal fire of bale | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Flaring portentous on a hill; | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Or torches lighted on a shore | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| By wreckers in a midnight gale. | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| No matter; be it as you will, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Only go forward with your tale." | 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.