Poems
BY feathers green, across CasbeenThe pilgrims track the Phœnix flown,By gems he strew’d in waste and wood,And jewell’d plumes at random thrown.
Till wandering far, by moon and star,They stand beside the fruitful pyre,Where breaking bright with sanguine lightThe impulsive bird forgets his sire.
Those ashes shine like ruby wine,Like bag of Tyrian murex spilt,The claw, the jowl of the flying fowlAre with the glorious anguish gilt.
So rare the light, so rich the sight,Those pilgrim men, on profit bent,Drop hands and eyes and merchandise,And are with gazing most content.
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- pyre n.
- A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. [L. pure, Gr. Fire.]
- impulsive a.
- Having the power of driving or impelling; giving an impulse; moving; impellent. [Cf. F. impulsif.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- tyrian a.
- Of or pertaining to Tyre or its people.
- murex n.
- A genus of marine gastropods, having rough, and frequently spinose, shells, which are often highly colored inside; the rock shells. They abound in tropical seas. [L., the purple fish.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
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: Arthur Christopher Benson, Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-arthur-christopher-benson/the-phnix.html, id L16279.
Form and metre
The Phœnix is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 -A-A casbeen · flownA · wood · thrownA
- 2 -A-A star · pyreA · light · sireA
- 3 -A-A wine · spiltA · fowl · giltA
- 4 -A-A sight · bentA · merchandise · contentA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BY feathers green, across Casbeen | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The pilgrims track the Phœnix flown, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By gems he strew’d in waste and wood, | 8 | ········ |
| And jewell’d plumes at random thrown. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till wandering far, by moon and star, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They stand beside the fruitful pyre, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Where breaking bright with sanguine light | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The impulsive bird forgets his sire. | 9 | ·˘/˘·˘/·/ |
| Those ashes shine like ruby wine, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like bag of Tyrian murex spilt, | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| The claw, the jowl of the flying fowl | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Are with the glorious anguish gilt. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| So rare the light, so rich the sight, | 8 | ········ |
| Those pilgrim men, on profit bent, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Drop hands and eyes and merchandise, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And are with gazing most content. | 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.