Old St. David's at Radnor
What an image of peace and restIs this little church among its graves!All is so quiet; the troubled breast,The wounded spirit, the heart oppressed,Here may find the repose it craves.
See, how the ivy climbs and expandsOver this humble hermitage,And seems to caress with its little handsThe rough, gray stones, as a child that standsCaressing the wrinkled cheeks of age!
You cross the threshold; and dim and smallIs the space that serves for the Shepherd's Fold;The narrow aisle, the bare, white wall,The pews, and the pulpit quaint and tall,Whisper and say: "Alas! we are old."
Herbert's chapel at BemertonHardly more spacious is than this;But Poet and Pastor, blent in one,Clothed with a splendor, as of the sun,That lowly and holy edifice.
It is not the wall of stone withoutThat makes the building small or greatBut the soul's light shining round about,And the faith that overcometh doubt,And the love that stronger is than hate.
Were I a pilgrim in search of peace,Were I a pastor of Holy Church,More than a Bishop's dioceseShould I prize this place of rest, and releaseFrom farther longing and farther search.
Here would I stay, and let the worldWith its distant thunder roar and roll;Storms do not rend the sail that is furled;Nor like a dead leaf, tossed and whirledIn an eddy of wind, is the anchored soul.
Words in this poem
- hermitage n.
- The habitation of a hermit; a secluded residence. [OE. hermitage, ermitage, F. hermitage, ermitage. See Hermit.]
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- anchored a.
- Held by an anchor; at anchor; held safely; as, an anchored bark; also, shaped like an anchor; forked; as, an anchored tongue.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old St. David's at Radnor 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, Old St. David's at Radnor, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/old-st-david-s-at-radnor.html, id L17805.
Form and metre
Old St. David's at Radnor is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 34% 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 ABAAB restA · gravesB · breastA · oppressedA · cravesB
- 2 ABAAB expandsA · hermitageB · handsA · standsA · ageB
- 3 ABAAB smallA · foldB · wallA · tallA · oldB
- 4 ABAAB bemertonA · thisB · oneA · sunA · edificeB
- 5 ABAAB withoutA · greatB · aboutA · doubtA · hateB
- 6 ABAAB peaceA · churchB · dioceseA · releaseA · searchB
- 7 ABAAB worldA · rollB · furledA · whirledA · soulB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What an image of peace and rest | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Is this little church among its graves! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| All is so quiet; the troubled breast, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| The wounded spirit, the heart oppressed, | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| Here may find the repose it craves. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| See, how the ivy climbs and expands | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Over this humble hermitage, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| And seems to caress with its little hands | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| The rough, gray stones, as a child that stands | 9 | ········· |
| Caressing the wrinkled cheeks of age! | 9 | ˘/˘·/˘··· |
| You cross the threshold; and dim and small | 9 | ···/····· |
| Is the space that serves for the Shepherd's Fold; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The narrow aisle, the bare, white wall, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The pews, and the pulpit quaint and tall, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Whisper and say: "Alas! we are old." | 9 | /˘··˘/··· |
| Herbert's chapel at Bemerton | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Hardly more spacious is than this; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| But Poet and Pastor, blent in one, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Clothed with a splendor, as of the sun, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| That lowly and holy edifice. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| It is not the wall of stone without | 9 | ········· |
| That makes the building small or great | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But the soul's light shining round about, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And the faith that overcometh doubt, | 9 | ····/˘·˘· |
| And the love that stronger is than hate. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Were I a pilgrim in search of peace, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Were I a pastor of Holy Church, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| More than a Bishop's diocese | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Should I prize this place of rest, and release | 10 | ········˘/ |
| From farther longing and farther search. | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Here would I stay, and let the world | 8 | ········ |
| With its distant thunder roar and roll; | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Storms do not rend the sail that is furled; | 9 | ········· |
| Nor like a dead leaf, tossed and whirled | 8 | ········ |
| In an eddy of wind, is the anchored soul. | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
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.