Poems
As one that for a weary space has lainLull’d by the song of Circe and her wineIn gardens near the pale of Proserpine,Where that Ææan isle forgets the main,And only the low lutes of love complain,And only shadows of wan lovers pine--As such an one were glad to know the brineSalt on his lips, and the large air again--So gladly from the songs of modern speechMen turn, and see the stars, and feel the freeShrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers,And through the music of the languid hoursThey hear like Ocean on a western beachThe surge and thunder of the Odyssey.
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- odyssey n.
- An epic poem attributed to Homer, which describes the return of Ulysses to Ithaca after the siege of Troy. [L. Odyssea, Gr. Odyssée.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Andrew Lang, Poems, (1844–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-andrew-lang/the-odyssey.html, id L16271.
Form and metre
The Odyssey is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBAABBAC-DDC- lainA · wineB · proserpineB · mainA · complainA · pineB · brineB · againA · speechC · free · flowersD · hoursD · beachC · odyssey
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As one that for a weary space has lain | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Lull’d by the song of Circe and her wine | 9 | ········· |
| In gardens near the pale of Proserpine, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Where that Ææan isle forgets the main, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And only the low lutes of love complain, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And only shadows of wan lovers pine-- | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| As such an one were glad to know the brine | 10 | ·········· |
| Salt on his lips, and the large air again-- | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So gladly from the songs of modern speech | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Men turn, and see the stars, and feel the free | 10 | ·········· |
| Shrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And through the music of the languid hours | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| They hear like Ocean on a western beach | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The surge and thunder of the Odyssey. | 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.