To Edward Fitzgerald (March 31St, 1909)
'Tis a sad fateTo watch the world fighting,All that is most fairRuthlessly blighting,Blighting, ah! blighting.
When such a thought comethLet us not pine,But gather old friendsRound the red wine--Oh! pour the red wine!
And there we'll talkAnd warm our witsWith Eastern fallaciesOut of old Fitz!British old Fitz!
See him, half statesman--Philosopher too--Half ancient marinerIn baggy blue--Such baggy blue!
Whimsical, wistful,Haughty, forsooth:Indolent always, yetArdent in truth,But indolent, indolent!
There at the tableWith us sits he,Charming us subtlyTo reverie,Magic reverie.
"How sweet is summer's breath,How sure and swift is death;Nought wise on earth, saveWhat the wine whispereth,Dreamily whispereth.
"At Naíshapúr beneath the sun,Or here in misty Babylon,Drink! for the rose leaves while you lingerAre falling, ever falling, one by one."
Ah! poet's soul, once more with us conspireTo grasp this sorry scheme of things entire,Once more with us to-night, old Fitz, once moreRemould it nearer to the heart's desire!
Words in this poem
- blighting a.
- Causing blight.
- fitz n.
- A son; -- used in compound names, to indicate paternity, esp. [OF. fils, filz, fiz, son, F. fils, L. filius. See Filial.]
- baggy a.
- Resembling a bag; loose or puffed out, or pendent, like a bag; flabby; as, baggy trousers; baggy cheeks.
- wistful a.
- Longing; wishful; desirous. [For wishful; perhaps influenced by wistly, which is probably corrupted from OE. wisly certainly (from Icel. viss certain, akin to E. wit). See Wish.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- indolent a.
- Free from toil, pain, or trouble. [Pref. in- not + L. dolens, -entis, p. pr. of dolere to feel pain: cf. F. indolent. See Dolorous.]
- subtly adv.
- In a subtle manner; slyly; artfully; cunningly.
- reverie n.
- A loose or irregular train of thought occurring in musing or mediation; deep musing; daydream. [F. réverie, fr. rêver to dream, rave, be light-headed. Cf. Rave.]
- dreamily adv.
- As if in a dream; softly; slowly; languidly.
- remould v. t.
- To mold or shape anew or again; to reshape.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Edward Fitzgerald (March 31St, 1909) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry John Newbolt, To Edward Fitzgerald (March 31St, 1909), in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/to-edward-fitzgerald-march-31st-1909.html, id L11447.
Form and metre
To Edward Fitzgerald (March 31St, 1909) is 43 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.9 syllables. 19 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 -A-AA fate · fightingA · fair · blightingA · blightingA
- 2 -A-AA cometh · pineA · friends · wineA · wineA
- 3 -A-AA talk · witsA · fallacies · fitzA · fitzA
- 4 -A-AA statesman · tooA · mariner · blueA · blueA
- 5 -A-A- wistful · forsoothA · yet · truthA · indolent
- 6 ---AA table · he · subtly · reverieA · reverieA
- 7 AA-BB breathA · deathA · save · whisperethB · whisperethB
- 8 A--A sunA · babylon · linger · oneA
- 9 AA-A conspireA · entireA · more · desireA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis a sad fate | 4 | ···· |
| To watch the world fighting, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All that is most fair | 5 | ····· |
| Ruthlessly blighting, | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Blighting, ah! blighting. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| When such a thought cometh | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Let us not pine, | 4 | ···· |
| But gather old friends | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Round the red wine-- | 4 | ···· |
| Oh! pour the red wine! | 5 | ····· |
| And there we'll talk | 4 | ···· |
| And warm our wits | 5 | ··/˘· |
| With Eastern fallacies | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Out of old Fitz! | 4 | ···· |
| British old Fitz! | 4 | /˘·· |
| See him, half statesman-- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Philosopher too-- | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| Half ancient mariner | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| In baggy blue-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Such baggy blue! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Whimsical, wistful, | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Haughty, forsooth: | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Indolent always, yet | 6 | /˘˘/˘· |
| Ardent in truth, | 4 | /˘·· |
| But indolent, indolent! | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| There at the table | 5 | ···/˘ |
| With us sits he, | 4 | ···· |
| Charming us subtly | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| To reverie, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Magic reverie. | 5 | /˘/˘˘ |
| "How sweet is summer's breath, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How sure and swift is death; | 6 | ······ |
| Nought wise on earth, save | 5 | ····· |
| What the wine whispereth, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Dreamily whispereth. | 6 | /˘˘/˘˘ |
| "At Naíshapúr beneath the sun, | 8 | ········ |
| Or here in misty Babylon, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Drink! for the rose leaves while you linger | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Are falling, ever falling, one by one." | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Ah! poet's soul, once more with us conspire | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Once more with us to-night, old Fitz, once more | 10 | ·········· |
| Remould it nearer to the heart's desire! | 11 | ˘/·/˘···˘/˘ |
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.