Ode
We are the music-makers,And we are the dreamers of dreams,Wandering by lone sea-breakers,And sitting by desolate streams;World-losers and world-forsakers,On whom the pale moon gleams:Yet we are the movers and shakersOf the world for ever, it seems.
With wonderful deathless dittiesWe build up the world’s great cities,And out of a fabulous storyWe fashion an empire’s glory:One man with a dream, at pleasure,Shall go forth and conquer a crown;And three with a new song’s measureCan trample an empire down.
We, in the ages lyingIn the buried past of the earth,Built Nineveh with our sighing,And Babel itself with our mirth;And o’erthrew them with prophesyingTo the old of the new world’s worth;For each age is a dream that is dying,Or one that is coming to birth.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- babel n.
- The city and tower in the land of Shinar, where the confusion of languages took place. [Heb. Babel, the name of the capital of Babylonia; in Genesis associated with the idea of "confusion"]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode 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 William Edgar O’shaughnessy, Ode, in Poems (1844–1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-arthur-william-edgar-oshaughnessy/ode.html, id L16268.
Form and metre
Ode is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 ABABABAB makersA · dreamsB · breakersA · streamsB · forsakersA · gleamsB · shakersA · seemsB
- 2 AABBCDCD dittiesA · citiesA · storyB · gloryB · pleasureC · crownD · measureC · downD
- 3 ABABABAB lyingA · earthB · sighingA · mirthB · prophesyingA · worthB · dyingA · birthB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We are the music-makers, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And we are the dreamers of dreams, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Wandering by lone sea-breakers, | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| And sitting by desolate streams; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| World-losers and world-forsakers, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On whom the pale moon gleams: | 6 | ······ |
| Yet we are the movers and shakers | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Of the world for ever, it seems. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| With wonderful deathless ditties | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| We build up the world’s great cities, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And out of a fabulous story | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| We fashion an empire’s glory: | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| One man with a dream, at pleasure, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Shall go forth and conquer a crown; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And three with a new song’s measure | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Can trample an empire down. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| We, in the ages lying | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| In the buried past of the earth, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Built Nineveh with our sighing, | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| And Babel itself with our mirth; | 8 | ·/˘˘/·/· |
| And o’erthrew them with prophesying | 8 | ········ |
| To the old of the new world’s worth; | 8 | ········ |
| For each age is a dream that is dying, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Or one that is coming to birth. | 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.