Interlude
Well pleased all listened to the tale,That drew, the Student said, its pithAnd marrow from the ancient mythOf some one with an iron flail;Or that portentous Man of BrassHephæstus made in days of yore,Who stalked about the Cretan shore,And saw the ships appear and pass,And threw stones at the Argonauts,Being filled with indiscriminate ireThat tangled and perplexed his thoughts;But, like a hospitable host,When strangers landed on the coast,Heated himself red-hot with fire,And hugged them in his arms, and pressedTheir bodies to his burning breast.
The Poet answered: "No, not thusThe legend rose; it sprang at firstOut of the hunger and the thirstIn all men for the marvellous.And thus it filled and satisfiedThe imagination of mankind,And this ideal to the mindWas truer than historic fact.Fancy enlarged and multipliedThe tenors of the awful nameOf Charlemagne, till he becameArmipotent in every act,And, clothed in mystery, appearedNot what men saw, but what they feared.Besides, unless my memory fail,Your some one with an iron flailIs not an ancient myth at all,But comes much later on the sceneAs Talus in the Faerie Queene,The iron groom of Artegall,Who threshed out falsehood and deceit,And truth upheld, and righted wrong,As was, as is the swallow, fleet,And as the lion is, was strong."
The Theologian said: "PerchanceYour chronicler in writing thisHad in his mind the Anabasis,Where Xenophon describes the advanceOf Artaxerxes to the fight;At first the low gray cloud of dust,And then a blackness o'er the fieldsAs of a passing thunder-gust,Then flash of brazen armor bright,And ranks of men, and spears up-thrust,Bowmen and troops with wicker shields,And cavalry equipped in white,And chariots ranged in front of theseWith scythes upon their axle-trees."
To this the Student answered: "Well,I also have a tale to tellOf Charlemagne; a tale that throwsA softer light, more tinged with rose,Than your grim apparition castUpon the darkness of the past.Listen, and hear in English rhymeWhat the good Monk of LauresheimGives as the gossip of his time,In mediaeval Latin prose."
Words in this poem
- portentous a.
- Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. [L. portentosus.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- cretan a.
- Pertaining to Crete, or Candia.
- historic a.
- Of or pertaining to history, or the record of past events; as, an historical poem; the historic page. [L. historicus, Gr. historique. See History.]
- armipotent a.
- Powerful in arms; mighty in battle. [L. armipotents; arma arms + potens powerful, p. pr. of posse to be able.]
- talus n.
- The astragalus. [L., the ankle, the ankle bone.]
- chronicler n.
- A writer of a chronicle; a recorder of events in the order of time; an historian.
- anabasis n.
- A journey or expedition up from the coast, like that of the younger Cyrus into Central Asia, described by Xenophon in his work called
- mediaeval a.
- Of or relating to the Middle Ages; as, mediæval architecture. [L. medius middle + aevum age. See Middle, and Age.]
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 The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/interlude-8.html, id L17693.
Form and metre
Interlude is 64 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% 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 ABBACDDCEFEGGFHH taleA · pithB · mythB · flailA · brassC · yoreD · shoreD · passC · argonautsE · ireF · thoughtsE · hostG · coastG · fireF · pressedH · breastH
- 2 -AA-BCCDBEEDFFGGHIIHJKJK thus · firstA · thirstA · marvellous · satisfiedB · mankindC · mindC · factD · multipliedB · nameE · becameE · actD · appearedF · fearedF · failG · flailG · allH · sceneI · queeneI · artegallH · deceitJ · wrongK · fleetJ · strongK
- 3 A--ABCDCBCDBEE perchanceA · this · anabasis · advanceA · fightB · dustC · fieldsD · gustC · brightB · thrustC · shieldsD · whiteB · theseE · treesE
- 4 AABBCCDDDB wellA · tellA · throwsB · roseB · castC · pastC · rhymeD · lauresheimD · timeD · proseB
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 all listened to the tale, | 10 | ··˘·/˘˘··· |
| That drew, the Student said, its pith | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And marrow from the ancient myth | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of some one with an iron flail; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or that portentous Man of Brass | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Hephæstus made in days of yore, | 8 | ········ |
| Who stalked about the Cretan shore, | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| And saw the ships appear and pass, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And threw stones at the Argonauts, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Being filled with indiscriminate ire | 10 | /˘··˘˘/˘˘· |
| That tangled and perplexed his thoughts; | 10 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘·· |
| But, like a hospitable host, | 8 | ···//˘˘· |
| When strangers landed on the coast, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Heated himself red-hot with fire, | 9 | /˘˘/···/˘ |
| And hugged them in his arms, and pressed | 10 | ··˘······˘ |
| Their bodies to his burning breast. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The Poet answered: "No, not thus | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘··· |
| The legend rose; it sprang at first | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Out of the hunger and the thirst | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In all men for the marvellous. | 8 | ········ |
| And thus it filled and satisfied | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| The imagination of mankind, | 9 | ·˘·˘/˘·// |
| And this ideal to the mind | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Was truer than historic fact. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Fancy enlarged and multiplied | 9 | /˘˘/˘·/˘· |
| The tenors of the awful name | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of Charlemagne, till he became | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Armipotent in every act, | 9 | ˘/˘˘·/˘˘· |
| And, clothed in mystery, appeared | 10 | ··˘·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Not what men saw, but what they feared. | 9 | ········˘ |
| Besides, unless my memory fail, | 9 | ˘/···/˘˘· |
| Your some one with an iron flail | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is not an ancient myth at all, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But comes much later on the scene | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As Talus in the Faerie Queene, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The iron groom of Artegall, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who threshed out falsehood and deceit, | 9 | ··˘·/··˘/ |
| And truth upheld, and righted wrong, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| As was, as is the swallow, fleet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And as the lion is, was strong." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Theologian said: "Perchance | 9 | ··˘/˘˘·˘/ |
| Your chronicler in writing this | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Had in his mind the Anabasis, | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| Where Xenophon describes the advance | 9 | ·/˘˘˘/·˘/ |
| Of Artaxerxes to the fight; | 8 | ········ |
| At first the low gray cloud of dust, | 8 | ········ |
| And then a blackness o'er the fields | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As of a passing thunder-gust, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Then flash of brazen armor bright, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And ranks of men, and spears up-thrust, | 8 | ········ |
| Bowmen and troops with wicker shields, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And cavalry equipped in white, | 9 | ·/˘˘˘/˘·· |
| And chariots ranged in front of these | 10 | ·/˘˘·˘···· |
| With scythes upon their axle-trees." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To this the Student answered: "Well, | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| I also have a tale to tell | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of Charlemagne; a tale that throws | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A softer light, more tinged with rose, | 9 | ·/˘···˘·· |
| Than your grim apparition cast | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Upon the darkness of the past. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Listen, and hear in English rhyme | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| What the good Monk of Lauresheim | 8 | ········ |
| Gives as the gossip of his time, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In mediaeval Latin prose." | 7 | ····/˘· |
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.