Anwyl
A darkened easement in a darker roomWas all his home, whence weary and bowed and whiteHe watched across the slowly gathering gloomThe slowly westering light.
Bitterness in his heavy-clouded eyes,Bitterness as of heaven's intestine warsBrooded; he looked upon the unfathomed skiesAnd whispered--to the stars--
Some day, he said, she will forget all thisThat she calls life, and looking far aboveSee throned among the great eternitiesThis dream of mine, this love;
Love that has given my soul these wings of fireTo beat in glory above the sapphire sea,Until the wings of the infinite desireClose in infinity;
Love that has taken the glory of hawthorn boughs,And all the dreaming beauty of hazel skies,As ministers to the radiance of her browsAnd haunted April eyes;
Love that is hidden so deep beneath the dustOf little daily duties and delights,Till that reproachful face of hers grows justAnd God at last requites
A soul whose dream was deeper than the skies,A heart whose hope was wider than the sea,Yet could not enter through his true love's eyesTheir grey infinity.
And so I know I wound her all day longBecause my heart must seem so far away;And even my love completes the silent wrongFor all that it can say
Seems vast and meaningless to mortal sense;Its vague desire can never reach its goalTill knowledge vanishes in omniscienceAnd God surrounds her soul,Breaking its barriers down and flooding inThrough all her wounds in one almighty tide,Mingling her soul with that great Love whereinMy soul waits, glorified.
Words in this poem
- easement n.
- That which gives ease, relief, or assistance; convenience; accommodation. [OF. aisement. See Ease, n.]
- westering a.
- Passing to the west.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- omniscience n.
- The quality or state of being omniscient; -- an attribute peculiar to God. [Cf. F. omniscience.]
- flooding n.
- The filling or covering with water or other fluid; overflow; inundation; the filling anything to excess.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anwyl is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, Anwyl, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/anwyl.html, id L21442.
Form and metre
Anwyl is 40 lines in 9 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 3 of the 9 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 ABAB roomA · whiteB · gloomA · lightB
- 2 A-A- eyesA · wars · skiesA · stars
- 3 -A-A this · aboveA · eternities · loveA
- 4 A-A- fireA · sea · desireA · infinity
- 5 ABAB boughsA · skiesB · browsA · eyesB
- 6 A-A- dustA · delights · justA · requites
- 7 A-A- skiesA · sea · eyesA · infinity
- 8 ABAB longA · awayB · wrongA · sayB
- 9 -A-ABCBC sense · goalA · omniscience · soulA · inB · tideC · whereinB · glorifiedC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A darkened easement in a darker room | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Was all his home, whence weary and bowed and white | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| He watched across the slowly gathering gloom | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The slowly westering light. | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| Bitterness in his heavy-clouded eyes, | 10 | /˘˘··/˘/˘· |
| Bitterness as of heaven's intestine wars | 10 | /˘··/˘˘/˘· |
| Brooded; he looked upon the unfathomed skies | 11 | /˘········· |
| And whispered--to the stars-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Some day, he said, she will forget all this | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| That she calls life, and looking far above | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| See throned among the great eternities | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| This dream of mine, this love; | 6 | ······ |
| Love that has given my soul these wings of fire | 11 | ···/·····/˘ |
| To beat in glory above the sapphire sea, | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| Until the wings of the infinite desire | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| Close in infinity; | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Love that has taken the glory of hawthorn boughs, | 12 | ···/˘·/˘·/·· |
| And all the dreaming beauty of hazel skies, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·/˘· |
| As ministers to the radiance of her brows | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And haunted April eyes; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Love that is hidden so deep beneath the dust | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Of little daily duties and delights, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Till that reproachful face of hers grows just | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And God at last requites | 6 | ······ |
| A soul whose dream was deeper than the skies, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A heart whose hope was wider than the sea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet could not enter through his true love's eyes | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Their grey infinity. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| And so I know I wound her all day long | 10 | ·········· |
| Because my heart must seem so far away; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And even my love completes the silent wrong | 10 | ·/··˘/·/˘· |
| For all that it can say | 6 | ······ |
| Seems vast and meaningless to mortal sense; | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Its vague desire can never reach its goal | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Till knowledge vanishes in omniscience | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| And God surrounds her soul, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Breaking its barriers down and flooding in | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Through all her wounds in one almighty tide, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Mingling her soul with that great Love wherein | 10 | /˘········ |
| My soul waits, glorified. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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