Olympus
HERMES (putting on his sandals.)Much must he toil who serves the Immortal Gods,And I, who am their herald, most of all.No rest have I, nor respite. I no soonerUnclasp the winged sandals from my feet,Than I again must clasp them, and departUpon some foolish errand. But to-dayThe errand is not foolish. Never yetWith greater joy did I obey the summonsThat sends me earthward. I will fly so swiftlyThat my caduceus in the whistling airShall make a sound like the Pandaean pipes,Cheating the shepherds; for to-day I go,Commissioned by high-thundering Zeus, to leadA maiden to Prometheus, in his tower,And by my cunning arguments persuade himTo marry her. What mischief lies concealedIn this design I know not; but I knowWho thinks of marrying hath already takenOne step upon the road to penitence.Such embassies delight me. Forth I launchOn the sustaining air, nor fear to fallLike Icarus, nor swerve aside like himWho drove amiss Hyperion's fiery steeds.I sink, I fly! The yielding elementFolds itself round about me like an arm,And holds me as a mother holds her child.
Words in this poem
- unclasp v. t.
- To loose the clasp of; to open, as something that is fastened, or as with, a clasp; as, to unclasp a book; to unclasp one's heart. [1st pref. un- + clasp.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- thundering a.
- Emitting thunder.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Olympus 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, Olympus, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/olympus.html, id L17729.
Form and metre
Olympus is 27 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 59% 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 --A---------B--C-B---AC---- sandals · gods · allA · sooner · feet · depart · day · yet · summons · swiftly · air · pipes · goB · lead · tower · himC · concealed · knowB · taken · penitence · launch · fallA · himC · steeds · element · arm · child
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 |
|---|---|---|
| HERMES (putting on his sandals.) | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Much must he toil who serves the Immortal Gods, | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| And I, who am their herald, most of all. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| No rest have I, nor respite. I no sooner | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Unclasp the winged sandals from my feet, | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Than I again must clasp them, and depart | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Upon some foolish errand. But to-day | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The errand is not foolish. Never yet | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| With greater joy did I obey the summons | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| That sends me earthward. I will fly so swiftly | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| That my caduceus in the whistling air | 11 | ··˘/˘˘··/˘· |
| Shall make a sound like the Pandaean pipes, | 9 | ········· |
| Cheating the shepherds; for to-day I go, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Commissioned by high-thundering Zeus, to lead | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| A maiden to Prometheus, in his tower, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘··/ |
| And by my cunning arguments persuade him | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘/· |
| To marry her. What mischief lies concealed | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| In this design I know not; but I know | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Who thinks of marrying hath already taken | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| One step upon the road to penitence. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Such embassies delight me. Forth I launch | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| On the sustaining air, nor fear to fall | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Like Icarus, nor swerve aside like him | 10 | ·/·˘··˘/·· |
| Who drove amiss Hyperion's fiery steeds. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| I sink, I fly! The yielding element | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Folds itself round about me like an arm, | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| And holds me as a mother holds her child. | 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.