Harbor Moonrise
There is never a wind to sing o'er the seaOn its dimpled bosom that holdeth in feeWealth of silver and magicry;And the harbor is like to an ebon cupWith mother-o'-pearl to the lips lined up,And brimmed with the wine of entranced delight,Purple and rare, from the flagon of night.
Lo, in the east is a glamor and gleam,Like waves that lap on the shores of dream,Or voice their lure in a poet's theme!And behind the curtseying fisher boatsThe barge of the rising moon upfloats,The pilot ship over unknown seasOf treasure-laden cloud argosies.
Ere ever she drifts from the ocean's rim,Out from the background of shadows dim,Stealeth a boat o'er her golden rim;Noiselessly, swiftly, it swayeth byInto the bourne of enchanted sky,Like a fairy shallop that seeks the strandOf a far and uncharted fairyland.
Now, ere the sleeping winds may stir,Send, O, my heart, a wish with her,Like to a venturous mariner;For who knoweth but that on an elfin seaShe may meet the bark that is sailing to thee,And, winging thy message across the foam,May hasten the hour when thy ship comes home?
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- ebon a.
- Consisting of ebony.
- flagon n.
- A vessel with a narrow mouth, used for holding and conveying liquors. It is generally larger than a bottle, and of leather or stoneware rather than of glass. [F. flacon, for flascon, fr. OF. flasche, from LL. flasco. See Flask.]
- bourne n.
- A stream or rivulet; a burn. [OE. burne, borne, AS. burna; akin to OS. brunno spring, G. born, brunnen, OHG. prunno, Goth. brunna, Icel. brunnr, and perh. to Gr. burn, v., because the source]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- fairyland n.
- The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
- venturous a.
- Daring; bold; hardy; fearless; venturesome; adveturous; as, a venturous soldier. [Aphetic form of OE. aventurous. See Adventurous, Venture, n.]
- elfin a.
- Relating to elves.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Harbor Moonrise 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 Moonrise, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/harbor-moonrise.html, id L29362.
Form and metre
Harbor Moonrise is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABBCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 seaA · feeA · magicryA · cupB · upB · delightC · nightC
- 2 AAABBCC gleamA · dreamA · themeA · boatsB · upfloatsB · seasC · argosiesC
- 3 AAABBCC rimA · dimA · rimA · byB · skyB · strandC · fairylandC
- 4 AAABBCC stirA · herA · marinerA · seaB · theeB · foamC · homeC
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 is never a wind to sing o'er the sea | 10 | ··/······· |
| On its dimpled bosom that holdeth in fee | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Wealth of silver and magicry; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And the harbor is like to an ebon cup | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| With mother-o'-pearl to the lips lined up, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And brimmed with the wine of entranced delight, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Purple and rare, from the flagon of night. | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| Lo, in the east is a glamor and gleam, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Like waves that lap on the shores of dream, | 9 | ········· |
| Or voice their lure in a poet's theme! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And behind the curtseying fisher boats | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The barge of the rising moon upfloats, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| The pilot ship over unknown seas | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| Of treasure-laden cloud argosies. | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| Ere ever she drifts from the ocean's rim, | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
| Out from the background of shadows dim, | 9 | ···/··/·· |
| Stealeth a boat o'er her golden rim; | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Noiselessly, swiftly, it swayeth by | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Into the bourne of enchanted sky, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Like a fairy shallop that seeks the strand | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| Of a far and uncharted fairyland. | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Now, ere the sleeping winds may stir, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Send, O, my heart, a wish with her, | 8 | ········ |
| Like to a venturous mariner; | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| For who knoweth but that on an elfin sea | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| She may meet the bark that is sailing to thee, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And, winging thy message across the foam, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| May hasten the hour when thy ship comes home? | 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.