Harbor Dawn
There's a hush and stillness calm and deep,For the waves have wooed all the winds to sleepIn the shadow of headlands bold and steep;But some gracious spirit has taken the cupOf the crystal sky and filled it upWith rosy wine, and in it afarHas dissolved the pearl of the morning star.
The girdling hills with the night-mist coldIn purple raiment are hooded and stoledAnd smit on the brows with fire and gold;And in the distance the wide, white seaIs a thing of glamor and wizardry,With its wild heart lulled to a passing rest,And the sunrise cradled upon its breast.
With the first red sunlight on mast and sparA ship is sailing beyond the bar,Bound to a land that is fair and far;And those who wait and those who goAre brave and hopeful, for well they knowFortune and favor the ship shall winThat crosses the bar when the dawn comes in.
Words in this poem
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- stoled a.
- Having or wearing a stole.
- smit
- 3d. pers. sing. pres. of Smite.
- wizardry n.
- The character or practices o
- hopeful a.
- Full of hope, or agreeable expectation; inclined to hope; expectant.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Harbor Dawn is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, Harbor Dawn, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/harbor-dawn.html, id L29373.
Form and metre
Harbor Dawn is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABBCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
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 AAABBCC deepA · sleepA · steepA · cupB · upB · afarC · starC
- 2 AAABBCC coldA · stoledA · goldA · seaB · wizardryB · restC · breastC
- 3 AAABBCC sparA · barA · farA · goB · knowB · winC · inC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There's a hush and stillness calm and deep, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| For the waves have wooed all the winds to sleep | 10 | ·········· |
| In the shadow of headlands bold and steep; | 10 | ··/······· |
| But some gracious spirit has taken the cup | 10 | ··/˘/·/˘·· |
| Of the crystal sky and filled it up | 10 | ··/˘···˘·· |
| With rosy wine, and in it afar | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| Has dissolved the pearl of the morning star. | 10 | ·˘/····/˘· |
| The girdling hills with the night-mist cold | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| In purple raiment are hooded and stoled | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| And smit on the brows with fire and gold; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| And in the distance the wide, white sea | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Is a thing of glamor and wizardry, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘˘ |
| With its wild heart lulled to a passing rest, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And the sunrise cradled upon its breast. | 10 | ··/·/˘···· |
| With the first red sunlight on mast and spar | 10 | ····/····· |
| A ship is sailing beyond the bar, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Bound to a land that is fair and far; | 9 | ········· |
| And those who wait and those who go | 8 | ········ |
| Are brave and hopeful, for well they know | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Fortune and favor the ship shall win | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| That crosses the bar when the dawn comes in. | 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.