Laurel · George Meredith · Poems, Volume I

The Flower of the Ruins

George Meredith (1828–1909) · 1851–1862

trochaic trimeter · ABBCACAA · 88 lines · from Poems, Volume I

TAKE thy lute and singBy the ruined castle walls,Where the torrent-foam falls,And long weeds wave:Take thy lute and sing,O’er the grey ancestral grave!Daughter of a King,Tune thy string.

Sing of happy hours,In the roar of rushing time;Till all the echoes chimeTo the days gone by;Sing of passing hoursTo the ever-present sky;—Weep—and let the showersWake thy flowers.

Sing of glories gone:—No more the blazoned foldFrom the banner is unrolled;The gold sun is set.Sing his glory gone,For thy voice may charm him yet;Daughter of the dawn,He is gone!

Pour forth all thy grief!Passionately sweep the chords,Wed them quivering to thy words;Wild words of wail!Shed thy withered grief—But hold not Autumn to thy bale;The eddy of the leafMust be brief!

Sing up to the night:Hard it is for streaming tearsTo read the calmness of the spheres;Coldly they shine;Sing up to their light;They have views thou may’st divine—Gain prophetic sightFrom their light!

On the windy hillsLo, the little harebell leansOn the spire-grass that it queens,With bonnet blue;Trusting love instilsLove and subject reverence true;Learn what love instilsOn the hills!

By the bare waysidePlacid snowdrops hang their cheeks,Softly touch’d with pale green streaks,Soon, soon, to die;On the clothed hedgesideBands of rosy beauties vie,In their prophesiedSummer pride.

From the snowdrop learn;Not in her pale life lives she,But in her blushing prophecy.Thus be thy hopes,Living but to yearnUpwards to the hidden scopes;—Even within the urnLet them burn!

Heroes of thy race—Warriors with golden crowns,Ghostly shapes with marbled frownsStare thee to stone;Matrons of thy racePass before thee making moan;Full of solemn graceIs their pace.

Piteous their despair!Piteous their looks forlorn!Terrible their ghostly scorn!Still hold thou fast;—Heed not their despair!—Thou art thy future, not thy past;Let them glance and glareThro’ the air.

Thou the ruin’s bud,Be not that moist rich-smelling weedWith its arras-sembled brede,And ruin-haunting stalk;Thou the ruin’s bud,Be still the rose that lights the walk,Mix thy fragrant bloodWith the flood!

Words in this poem

chime n.: The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
passionately adv.: In a passionate manner; with strong feeling; ardently.
streaming a.: Sending forth streams.
coldly adv.: In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
harebell n.: A small, slender, branching plant (Campanula rotundifolia), having blue bell-shaped flowers; also, Scilla nutans, which has similar flowers; -- called also bluebell.
wayside n.: The side of the way; the edge or border of a road or path.
placid a.: Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
yearn v. t.: To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
ghostly a.: Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
marbled a.: Made of, or faced with, marble.
forlorn a.: Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
glare v. i.: To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Flower of the Ruins is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #1381; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: George Meredith, The Flower of the Ruins, in Poems, Volume I (1851–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1381, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meredith-poems/the-flower-of-the-ruins.html, id L13143.

Form and metre

The Flower of the Ruins is 88 lines in 11 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBCACAA, complete in 8 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.6 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in trochaic trimeter.

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 ABBCACAA sing^A · walls^B · falls^B · wave^C · sing^A · grave^C · king^A · string^A
2 ABBCACAA hours^A · time^B · chime^B · by^C · hours^A · sky^C · showers^A · flowers^A
3 ABBCACAA gone^A · fold^B · unrolled^B · set^C · gone^A · yet^C · dawn^A · gone^A
4 A--BABAA grief^A · chords · words · wail^B · grief^A · bale^B · leaf^A · brief^A
5 ABBCACAA night^A · tears^B · spheres^B · shine^C · light^A · divine^C · sight^A · light^A
6 ABBCDCDA hills^A · leans^B · queens^B · blue^C · instils^D · true^C · instils^D · hills^A
7 ABBCACAA wayside^A · cheeks^B · streaks^B · die^C · hedgeside^A · vie^C · prophesied^A · pride^A
8 A--BABAA learn^A · she · prophecy · hopes^B · yearn^A · scopes^B · urn^A · burn^A
9 ABBCACAA race^A · crowns^B · frowns^B · stone^C · race^A · moan^C · grace^A · pace^A
10 ABBCACAA despair^A · forlorn^B · scorn^B · fast^C · despair^A · past^C · glare^A · air^A
11 ABBCACAA bud^A · weed^B · brede^B · stalk^C · bud^A · walk^C · blood^A · flood^A

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
TAKE thy lute and sing	5	·····
By the ruined castle walls,	7	··/˘/˘·
Where the torrent-foam falls,	6	··/˘··
And long weeds wave:	4	····
Take thy lute and sing,	5	·····
O’er the grey ancestral grave!	7	···˘/˘·
Daughter of a King,	5	/˘···
Tune thy string.	3	···
Sing of happy hours,	6	··/˘/˘
In the roar of rushing time;	7	····/˘·
Till all the echoes chime	6	···/˘·
To the days gone by;	5	·····
Sing of passing hours	6	··/˘/˘
To the ever-present sky;—	7	··/˘/˘·
Weep—and let the showers	6	····/˘
Wake thy flowers.	4	··/˘
Sing of glories gone:—	5	··/˘·
No more the blazoned fold	6	······
From the banner is unrolled;	7	··/˘···
The gold sun is set.	5	·····
Sing his glory gone,	5	··/˘·
For thy voice may charm him yet;	7	·······
Daughter of the dawn,	5	/˘···
He is gone!	3	···
Pour forth all thy grief!	5	·····
Passionately sweep the chords,	7	/˘˘˘···
Wed them quivering to thy words;	8	··/˘˘···
Wild words of wail!	4	····
Shed thy withered grief—	5	··/˘·
But hold not Autumn to thy bale;	8	···/˘···
The eddy of the leaf	6	·/˘···
Must be brief!	3	···
Sing up to the night:	5	·····
Hard it is for streaming tears	7	····/˘·
To read the calmness of the spheres;	8	···/˘···
Coldly they shine;	4	/˘··
Sing up to their light;	5	·····
They have views thou may’st divine—	7	·····˘/
Gain prophetic sight	5	·˘/˘·
From their light!	3	···
On the windy hills	5	··/˘·
Lo, the little harebell leans	7	··/˘/˘·
On the spire-grass that it queens,	7	·······
With bonnet blue;	4	·/˘·
Trusting love instils	5	/˘···
Love and subject reverence true;	8	··/˘/˘˘·
Learn what love instils	5	·····
On the hills!	3	···
By the bare wayside	5	···/·
Placid snowdrops hang their cheeks,	7	/˘·····
Softly touch’d with pale green streaks,	7	/˘·····
Soon, soon, to die;	4	····
On the clothed hedgeside	6	······
Bands of rosy beauties vie,	7	··/˘/˘·
In their prophesied	5	··/˘·
Summer pride.	3	/˘·
From the snowdrop learn;	5	··/˘·
Not in her pale life lives she,	7	·······
But in her blushing prophecy.	8	···/˘/˘˘
Thus be thy hopes,	4	····
Living but to yearn	5	/˘···
Upwards to the hidden scopes;—	7	/˘··/˘·
Even within the urn	6	/˘····
Let them burn!	3	···
Heroes of thy race—	5	/˘···
Warriors with golden crowns,	7	/˘˘·/˘·
Ghostly shapes with marbled frowns	7	/˘··/˘·
Stare thee to stone;	4	····
Matrons of thy race	5	/˘···
Pass before thee making moan;	7	····/˘·
Full of solemn grace	5	··/˘·
Is their pace.	3	···
Piteous their despair!	6	/˘˘·˘/
Piteous their looks forlorn!	7	/˘˘··˘/
Terrible their ghostly scorn!	7	/˘˘·/˘·
Still hold thou fast;—	4	····
Heed not their despair!—	5	···˘/
Thou art thy future, not thy past;	8	···/˘···
Let them glance and glare	5	·····
Thro’ the air.	3	···
Thou the ruin’s bud,	5	··/˘·
Be not that moist rich-smelling weed	8	·····/˘·
With its arras-sembled brede,	6	··/˘··
And ruin-haunting stalk;	6	·/˘/˘·
Thou the ruin’s bud,	5	··/˘·
Be still the rose that lights the walk,	8	········
Mix thy fragrant blood	5	··/˘·
With the flood!	3	···

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.

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