The Temple
Between us leapt a gold and scarlet flame.Into the hollow of the cupped, arched blueOf Heaven it rose. Its flickering tongues up-drewAnd vanished in the sunshine. How it cameWe guessed not, nor what thing could be its name.From each to each had sprung those sparks which flewTogether into fire. But we knewThe winds would slap and quench it in their game.And so we graved and fashioned marble blocksTo treasure it, and placed them round about.With pillared porticos we wreathed the whole,And roofed it with bright bronze. Behind carved locksFlowered the tall and sheltered flame. Without,The baffled winds thrust at a column's bole.
Beneath this sod lie the remainsOf one who died of growing pains.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- pillared a.
- Supported or ornamented by pillars; resembling a pillar, or pillars.
- bole n.
- The trunk or stem of a tree, or that which is like it. [OE. bole, fr. Icel. bolr; akin to Sw. bål, Dan. bul, trunk, stem of a tree, G. bohle a thick plank or board; cf. LG. boll round. Cf. Bulge.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Temple is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sword Blades and Poppy Seed, Project Gutenberg ebook #1020; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Amy Lowell, The Temple, in Sword Blades and Poppy Seed (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1020, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lowell-amy-sword-blades/the-temple.html, id L08229.
Form and metre
The Temple is 16 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 50% 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 ABBAABBACDECDE flameA · blueB · drewB · cameA · nameA · flewB · knewB · gameA · blocksC · aboutD · wholeE · locksC · withoutD · boleE
- 2 AA remainsA · painsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Between us leapt a gold and scarlet flame. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Into the hollow of the cupped, arched blue | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of Heaven it rose. Its flickering tongues up-drew | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And vanished in the sunshine. How it came | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| We guessed not, nor what thing could be its name. | 10 | ·········· |
| From each to each had sprung those sparks which flew | 10 | ·········· |
| Together into fire. But we knew | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| The winds would slap and quench it in their game. | 10 | ·········· |
| And so we graved and fashioned marble blocks | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To treasure it, and placed them round about. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| With pillared porticos we wreathed the whole, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And roofed it with bright bronze. Behind carved locks | 10 | ·········· |
| Flowered the tall and sheltered flame. Without, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| The baffled winds thrust at a column's bole. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Beneath this sod lie the remains | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Of one who died of growing pains. | 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.