By the Margin of the Great Deep
When the breath of twilight blows to flame the misty skies,All its vaporous sapphire, violet glow and silver gleam,With their magic flood me through the gateway of the eyes;I am one with the twilight’s dream.
When the trees and skies and fields are one in dusky mood,Every heart of man is rapt within the mother’s breast:Full of peace and sleep and dreams in the vasty quietude,I am one with their hearts at rest.
From our immemorial joys of hearth and home and loveStray’d away along the margin of the unknown tide,All its reach of soundless calm can thrill me far aboveWord or touch from the lips beside.
Aye, and deep and deep and deeper let me drink and drawFrom the olden fountain more than light or peace or dream,Such primæval being as o’erfills the heart with awe,Growing one with its silent stream.
Words in this poem
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
- quietude n.
- Rest; repose; quiet; tranquillity. Shelley. [L. quietudo: cf. F. quiétude.]
- immemorial a.
- Extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition; indefinitely ancient; as, existing from time immemorial. [Pref. im- not + memorial: cf. F. immémorial.]
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
By the Margin of the Great Deep 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: George William Russell, By the Margin of the Great Deep, in Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-george-william-russell-a-e/by-the-margin-of-the-great-deep.html, id L16285.
Form and metre
By the Margin of the Great Deep is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.9 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 trochaic heptameter.
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 ABAB skiesA · gleamB · eyesA · dreamB
- 2 ABAB moodA · breastB · quietudeA · restB
- 3 ABAB loveA · tideB · aboveA · besideB
- 4 ABAB drawA · dreamB · aweA · streamB
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 trochaic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the breath of twilight blows to flame the misty skies, | 13 | ····/·····/˘· |
| All its vaporous sapphire, violet glow and silver gleam, | 14 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With their magic flood me through the gateway of the eyes; | 13 | ··/˘····/···· |
| I am one with the twilight’s dream. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| When the trees and skies and fields are one in dusky mood, | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| Every heart of man is rapt within the mother’s breast: | 13 | /˘········/˘· |
| Full of peace and sleep and dreams in the vasty quietude, | 14 | ·········/˘/˘˘ |
| I am one with their hearts at rest. | 8 | ········ |
| From our immemorial joys of hearth and home and love | 13 | ·/·˘/˘······· |
| Stray’d away along the margin of the unknown tide, | 13 | ·˘/˘/·/˘··˘/· |
| All its reach of soundless calm can thrill me far above | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| Word or touch from the lips beside. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Aye, and deep and deep and deeper let me drink and draw | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| From the olden fountain more than light or peace or dream, | 13 | ··/˘/˘······· |
| Such primæval being as o’erfills the heart with awe, | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| Growing one with its silent stream. | 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.