Poem II
Is it a dream? Ah yet, it seemsNot the same as other dreams!I can but think that angels sang,When thou wast born, in the starry sky,And that their golden harps out-rangWhile the silver clouds went by!
The morning sun shuts out the stars,Which are much loftier than the sun;But, could we burst our prison-barsAnd find the Light whence light begun,The dreams that heralded thy birthWere truer than the truths of earth;And, by that far immortal Gleam,Soul of my soul, I still would dream!
A ring of light was round thy head,The great-eyed oxen nigh thy bedTheir cold and innocent noses bowed!Their sweet breath rose like an incense cloudIn the blurred and mystic lanthorn light.
About the middle of the nightThe black door blazed like some great starWith a glory from afar,Or like some mighty chrysoliteWherein an angel stood with whiteBlinding arrowy bladed wingsBefore the throne of the King of kings;And, through it, I could dimly seeA great steed tethered to a tree.
Then, with crimson gems aflameThrough the door the three kings came,And the black Ethiop unrolledThe richly broidered cloth of gold,And pourèd forth before thee thereGold and frankincense and myrrh!
Words in this poem
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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.]
- arrowy a.
- Consisting of arrows.
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- aflame adv.
- Inflames; glowing with light or passion; ablaze. G. Eliot. [Pref. a- + flame.]
- ethiop n.
- A native or inhabitant of Ethiopia; also, in a general sense, a negro or black man.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem II 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, Poem II, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/poem-ii.html, id L21491.
Form and metre
Poem II is 34 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 65% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABCBC seemsA · dreamsA · sangB · skyC · rangB · byC
- 2 ABABCCDD starsA · sunB · barsA · begunB · birthC · earthC · gleamD · dreamD
- 3 AABB- headA · bedA · bowedB · cloudB · light
- 4 ABBAACCDD nightA · starB · afarB · chrysoliteA · whiteA · wingsC · kingsC · seeD · treeD
- 5 AABB-- aflameA · cameA · unrolledB · goldB · there · myrrh
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Is it a dream? Ah yet, it seems | 8 | ········ |
| Not the same as other dreams! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I can but think that angels sang, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When thou wast born, in the starry sky, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And that their golden harps out-rang | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While the silver clouds went by! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The morning sun shuts out the stars, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which are much loftier than the sun; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But, could we burst our prison-bars | 8 | ····//˘· |
| And find the Light whence light begun, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The dreams that heralded thy birth | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Were truer than the truths of earth; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, by that far immortal Gleam, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Soul of my soul, I still would dream! | 8 | ········ |
| A ring of light was round thy head, | 8 | ········ |
| The great-eyed oxen nigh thy bed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their cold and innocent noses bowed! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Their sweet breath rose like an incense cloud | 9 | ······˘/· |
| In the blurred and mystic lanthorn light. | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| About the middle of the night | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The black door blazed like some great star | 8 | ········ |
| With a glory from afar, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Or like some mighty chrysolite | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Wherein an angel stood with white | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Blinding arrowy bladed wings | 8 | /˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Before the throne of the King of kings; | 9 | ········· |
| And, through it, I could dimly see | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A great steed tethered to a tree. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then, with crimson gems aflame | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Through the door the three kings came, | 7 | ······· |
| And the black Ethiop unrolled | 8 | ·······˘ |
| The richly broidered cloth of gold, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And pourèd forth before thee there | 7 | ······· |
| Gold and frankincense and myrrh! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.