The Rainbow
A stately rainbow came and stood,When I was young, in High-Hurst Park;Its bright feet lit the hill and woodBeyond, and cloud and sward were dark;And I, who thought the splendour oursBecause the place was, t’wards it flew,And there, amidst the glittering showers,Gazed vainly for the glorious view.With whatsoever’s lovely, knowIt is not ours; stand off to see,Or beauty’s apparition soPuts on invisibility.
Words in this poem
- hurst n.
- A wood or grove; -- a word used in the composition of many names, as in Hazlehurst. [OE. hurst, AS. hyrst; akin to OHG. hurst, horst, wood, thicket, G. horst the nest of a bird of prey, an eyerie, thicket.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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.]
- invisibility n.
- The state or quality of being invisible; also, that which is invisible. [L. invisibilitas: cf. F. invisibilité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Rainbow is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Angel in the House, Project Gutenberg ebook #4099; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Coventry Patmore, The Rainbow, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/the-rainbow.html, id L12284.
Form and metre
The Rainbow is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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 ABABCDCDE-E- stoodA · parkB · woodA · darkB · oursC · flewD · showersC · viewD · knowE · see · soE · invisibility
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A stately rainbow came and stood, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| When I was young, in High-Hurst Park; | 8 | ········ |
| Its bright feet lit the hill and wood | 8 | ········ |
| Beyond, and cloud and sward were dark; | 8 | ········ |
| And I, who thought the splendour ours | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Because the place was, t’wards it flew, | 8 | ········ |
| And there, amidst the glittering showers, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘/ |
| Gazed vainly for the glorious view. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With whatsoever’s lovely, know | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| It is not ours; stand off to see, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Or beauty’s apparition so | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Puts on invisibility. | 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.