Divine Vision
Can it be the Master knowsHow the Cosmic Blossom blows?
Yes, at times the Lord of LightBreaks forth wonderful and white,And He strikes a corded lyreIn a rush of whirlwind fire;And He sees before Him passSouls and planets in a glass;And within the music hearsAll the motions of all spheres,All the whispers of all feet,Cries of triumph and retreat,Songs of systems and of souls,Circling to their mighty goals.
So the Lord of Light beholdsHow the Cosmic Flower unfolds.
Words in this poem
- cosmic a.
- Pertaining to the universe, and having special reference to universal law or order, or to the one grand harmonious system of things; hence; harmonious; orderly. [Gr. kosmiko`s of the world, fr. ko`smos: cf. F. cosmique. See Cosmos.]
- corded a.
- Bound or fastened with cords.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Divine Vision is in the public domain. This text is taken from The man with the hoe, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #67012; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edwin Markham, Divine Vision, in The Man with the Hoe, and Other Poems (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #67012, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-man-with-hoe/divine-vision.html, id L24785.
Form and metre
Divine Vision is 16 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AA knowsA · blowsA
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF lightA · whiteA · lyreB · fireB · passC · glassC · hearsD · spheresD · feetE · retreatE · soulsF · goalsF
- 3 AA beholdsA · unfoldsA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Can it be the Master knows | 7 | ····/˘· |
| How the Cosmic Blossom blows? | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Yes, at times the Lord of Light | 7 | ······· |
| Breaks forth wonderful and white, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| And He strikes a corded lyre | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In a rush of whirlwind fire; | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| And He sees before Him pass | 7 | ······· |
| Souls and planets in a glass; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And within the music hears | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All the motions of all spheres, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All the whispers of all feet, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Cries of triumph and retreat, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Songs of systems and of souls, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Circling to their mighty goals. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| So the Lord of Light beholds | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| How the Cosmic Flower unfolds. | 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.