Bermudas
Where the remote Bermudas rideIn the ocean’s bosom unespied,From a small boat that row’d alongThe listening woods received this song:
‘What should we do but sing His praiseThat led us through the watery mazeUnto an isle so long unknown,And yet far kinder than our own?Where He the huge sea-monsters wracks,That lift the deep upon their backs,He lands us on a grassy stage,Safe from the storms’ and prelates’ rage:He gave us this eternal SpringWhich here enamels everything,And sends the fowls to us in careOn daily visits through the air:He hangs in shades the orange brightLike golden lamps in a green night,And does in the pomegranates closeJewels more rich than Ormus shows:He makes the figs our mouths to meetAnd throws the melons at our feet;But apples plants of such a price,No tree could ever bear them twice.With cedars chosen by His handFrom Lebanon He stores the land;And makes the hollow seas that roarProclaim the ambergris on shore.He cast (of which we rather boast)The Gospel’s pearl upon our coast;And in these rocks for us did frameA temple where to sound His name.O, let our voice His praise exaltTill it arrive at Heaven’s vault,Which thence (perhaps) rebounding mayEcho beyond the Mexique bay!’
Thus sung they in the English boatA holy and a cheerful note:And all the way, to guide their chime,With falling oars they kept the time.
Words in this poem
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- backs n.
- Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bermudas 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 Marvell, Bermudas, in Poems (1621–1678), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-andrew-marvell/bermudas.html, id L16108.
Form and metre
Bermudas is 40 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AABB rideA · unespiedA · alongB · songB
- 2 AABB--CCDDEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN praiseA · mazeA · unknownB · ownB · wracks · backs · stageC · rageC · springD · everythingD · careE · airE · brightF · nightF · close · shows · meetG · feetG · priceH · twiceH · handI · landI · roarJ · shoreJ · boastK · coastK · frameL · nameL · exaltM · vaultM · mayN · bayN
- 3 AABB boatA · noteA · chimeB · timeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where the remote Bermudas ride | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| In the ocean’s bosom unespied, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| From a small boat that row’d along | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The listening woods received this song: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| ‘What should we do but sing His praise | 8 | ········ |
| That led us through the watery maze | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Unto an isle so long unknown, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And yet far kinder than our own? | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Where He the huge sea-monsters wracks, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That lift the deep upon their backs, | 8 | ········ |
| He lands us on a grassy stage, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Safe from the storms’ and prelates’ rage: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He gave us this eternal Spring | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Which here enamels everything, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And sends the fowls to us in care | 8 | ········ |
| On daily visits through the air: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| He hangs in shades the orange bright | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Like golden lamps in a green night, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And does in the pomegranates close | 9 | ········· |
| Jewels more rich than Ormus shows: | 8 | /˘······ |
| He makes the figs our mouths to meet | 8 | ····/··· |
| And throws the melons at our feet; | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| But apples plants of such a price, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No tree could ever bear them twice. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With cedars chosen by His hand | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| From Lebanon He stores the land; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And makes the hollow seas that roar | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Proclaim the ambergris on shore. | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| He cast (of which we rather boast) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Gospel’s pearl upon our coast; | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| And in these rocks for us did frame | 8 | ········ |
| A temple where to sound His name. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O, let our voice His praise exalt | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Till it arrive at Heaven’s vault, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Which thence (perhaps) rebounding may | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Echo beyond the Mexique bay!’ | 8 | /˘······ |
| Thus sung they in the English boat | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A holy and a cheerful note: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And all the way, to guide their chime, | 8 | ········ |
| With falling oars they kept the time. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.