Aurora-Borealis. Commemorative of the Dissolution of Armies at the Peace
Aurora-Borealis.Commemorative of the Dissolution of Armies at the Peace.(May, 1865.)
What power disbands the Northern LightsAfter their steely play?The lonely watcher feels an aweOf Nature’s sway,As when appearing,He marked their flashed uprearingIn the cold gloom--Retreatings and advancings,(Like dallyings of doom),Transitions and enhancings,And bloody ray.
The phantom-host has faded quite,Splendor and Terror gone--Portent or promise--and gives wayTo pale, meek Dawn;The coming, going,Alike in wonder showing--Alike the God,Decreeing and commandingThe million blades that glowed,The muster and disbanding--Midnight and Morn.
Words in this poem
- steely a.
- Made of steel; consisting of steel.
- watcher n.
- One who watches; one who sits up or continues; a diligent observer; specifically, one who attends upon the sick during the night.
- portent n.
- That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. [L. portentum. See Portend.]
- muster n.
- Something shown for imitation; a pattern. [OE. moustre, OF. mostre, moustre, F. montre, LL. monstra. See Muster, v. t.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Aurora-Borealis. Commemorative of the Dissolution of Armies at the Peace is in the public domain. This text is taken from Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, Project Gutenberg ebook #12384; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Herman Melville, Aurora-Borealis. Commemorative of the Dissolution of Armies at the Peace, in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12384, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/melville-battle-pieces/aurora-borealis-commemorative-of-the-dissolution-of-armies-at-the-peace.html, id L26275.
Form and metre
Aurora-Borealis. Commemorative of the Dissolution of Armies at the Peace is 25 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 AA- borealisA · peaceA · —
- 2 -A-ABBCDCDA lights · playA · awe · swayA · appearingB · uprearingB · gloomC · advancingsD · doomC · enhancingsD · rayA
- 3 -A-ABB-C-C- quite · goneA · way · dawnA · goingB · showingB · god · commandingC · glowed · disbandingC · morn
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora-Borealis. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Commemorative of the Dissolution of Armies at the Peace. | 15 | ˘/˘···˘/˘·/˘··· |
| (May, 1865.) | 1 | · |
| What power disbands the Northern Lights | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| After their steely play? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The lonely watcher feels an awe | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of Nature’s sway, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| As when appearing, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| He marked their flashed uprearing | 8 | ··˘····· |
| In the cold gloom-- | 4 | ···· |
| Retreatings and advancings, | 7 | ˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| (Like dallyings of doom), | 5 | ····· |
| Transitions and enhancings, | 7 | ˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And bloody ray. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The phantom-host has faded quite, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Splendor and Terror gone-- | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Portent or promise--and gives way | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| To pale, meek Dawn; | 4 | ···· |
| The coming, going, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Alike in wonder showing-- | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Alike the God, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Decreeing and commanding | 7 | ˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| The million blades that glowed, | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| The muster and disbanding-- | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Midnight and Morn. | 4 | /··· |
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.