The House-top. A Night Piece
No sleep. The sultriness pervades the airAnd binds the brain--a dense oppression, suchAs tawny tigers feel in matted shades,Vexing their blood and making apt for ravage.Beneath the stars the roofy desert spreadsVacant as Libya. All is hushed near by.Yet fitfully from far breaks a mixed surfOf muffled sound, the Atheist roar of riot.Yonder, where parching Sirius set in drought,Balefully glares red Arson--there-and there.The Town is taken by its rats--ship-rats.And rats of the wharves. All civil charmsAnd priestly spells which late held hearts in awe--Fear-bound, subjected to a better swayThan sway of self; these like a dream dissolve,And man rebounds whole æons back in nature.Hail to the low dull rumble, dull and dead,And ponderous drag that shakes the wall.Wise Draco comes, deep in the midnight rollOf black artillery; he comes, though late;In code corroborating Calvin’s creedAnd cynic tyrannies of honest kings;He comes, nor parlies; and the Town redeemed,Give thanks devout; nor, being thankful, heedsThe grimy slur on the Republic’s faith implied,Which holds that Man is naturally good,And--more--is Nature’s Roman, never to be scourged.
Words in this poem
- sultriness n.
- The quality or state of being sultry.
- atheist n.
- One who disbelieves or denies the existence of a God, or supreme intelligent Being. [Gr. athéiste.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- parching a.
- Scorching; burning; drying.
- sirius n.
- The Dog Star. See Dog Star.
- balefully adv.
- In a baleful manner; perniciously.
- draco n.
- The Dragon, a northern constellation within which is the north pole of the ecliptic. [L. See Dragon.]
- artillery n.
- Munitions of war; implements for warfare, as slings, bows, and arrows. [OE. artilrie, OF. artillerie, arteillerie, fr. LL. artillaria, artilleria, machines and apparatus of all kinds used in war, vans laden with arms of any kind whi]
- cynic a.
- Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish. [L. cynicus of the sect of Cynics, fr. Gr. Hound.]
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
- grimy a.
- Full of grime; begrimed; dirty; foul.
- slur v. t.
- To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace. Cudworth. [Cf. OE. sloor mud, clay, Icel. sl, slo, to trail or drag one's self along, D. sleuren, sloren, to train, to drag, to do negligently and slovenly, D. sloor, sloe]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The House-top. A Night Piece 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, The House-top. A Night Piece, in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12384, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/melville-battle-pieces/the-house-top-a-night-piece.html, id L19103.
Form and metre
The House-top. A Night Piece is 27 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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------BBA----------------- airA · such · shades · ravage · spreads · by · surf · riotB · droughtB · thereA · rats · charms · awe · sway · dissolve · nature · dead · wall · roll · late · creed · kings · redeemed · heeds · implied · good · scourged
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No sleep. The sultriness pervades the air | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| And binds the brain--a dense oppression, such | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| As tawny tigers feel in matted shades, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Vexing their blood and making apt for ravage. | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| Beneath the stars the roofy desert spreads | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Vacant as Libya. All is hushed near by. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Yet fitfully from far breaks a mixed surf | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Of muffled sound, the Atheist roar of riot. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··/ |
| Yonder, where parching Sirius set in drought, | 11 | /˘·/˘/˘˘··· |
| Balefully glares red Arson--there-and there. | 10 | /˘˘··/˘··· |
| The Town is taken by its rats--ship-rats. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And rats of the wharves. All civil charms | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And priestly spells which late held hearts in awe-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Fear-bound, subjected to a better sway | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Than sway of self; these like a dream dissolve, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And man rebounds whole æons back in nature. | 10 | ··/·····/˘ |
| Hail to the low dull rumble, dull and dead, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And ponderous drag that shakes the wall. | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Wise Draco comes, deep in the midnight roll | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Of black artillery; he comes, though late; | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| In code corroborating Calvin’s creed | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And cynic tyrannies of honest kings; | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| He comes, nor parlies; and the Town redeemed, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Give thanks devout; nor, being thankful, heeds | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The grimy slur on the Republic’s faith implied, | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘·˘/ |
| Which holds that Man is naturally good, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘· |
| And--more--is Nature’s Roman, never to be scourged. | 11 | ···/˘/˘/··· |
Notes from the edition 1
Herman Melville's own notes to Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War (1866; Project Gutenberg #12384).
- Line 16 “I dare not write the horrible and inconceivable atrocities committed,” says Froissart, in alluding to the remarkable sedition in France during his time. The like may be hinted of some proceedings of the draft-rioters.
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