The Whirlwind Road
The Muses wrapped in mysteries of lightCame in a rush of music on the night;And I was lifted wildly on quick wings,And borne away into the deep of things.The dead doors of my being broke apart;A wind of rapture blew across the heart;The inward song of worlds rang still and clear;I felt the Mystery the Muses fear;Yet they went swiftening on the ways untrod,And hurled me breathless at the feet of God.
I felt faint touches of the Final Truth--Moments of trembling love, moments of youth.A vision swept away the human wall;Slowly I saw the meaning of it all--Meaning of life and time and death and birth,But can not tell it to the men of Earth.I only point the way, and they must goThe whirlwind road of song if they would know.
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Whirlwind Road 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, The Whirlwind Road, 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/the-whirlwind-road.html, id L24744.
Form and metre
The Whirlwind Road is 18 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AABBCCDDEE lightA · nightA · wingsB · thingsB · apartC · heartC · clearD · fearD · untrodE · godE
- 2 AABBCCDD truthA · youthA · wallB · allB · birthC · earthC · goD · knowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Muses wrapped in mysteries of light | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Came in a rush of music on the night; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And I was lifted wildly on quick wings, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And borne away into the deep of things. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The dead doors of my being broke apart; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| A wind of rapture blew across the heart; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The inward song of worlds rang still and clear; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I felt the Mystery the Muses fear; | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Yet they went swiftening on the ways untrod, | 11 | ··········· |
| And hurled me breathless at the feet of God. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I felt faint touches of the Final Truth-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Moments of trembling love, moments of youth. | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| A vision swept away the human wall; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Slowly I saw the meaning of it all-- | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Meaning of life and time and death and birth, | 10 | /˘········ |
| But can not tell it to the men of Earth. | 10 | ·········· |
| I only point the way, and they must go | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The whirlwind road of song if they would know. | 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.