The Spirit’s Epochs
Not in the crises of events,Of compass’d hopes, or fears fulfill’d,Or acts of gravest consequence,Are life’s delight and depth reveal’d.The day of days was not the day;That went before, or was postponed;The night Death took our lamp awayWas not the night on which we groan’d.I drew my bride, beneath the moon,Across my threshold; happy hour!But, ah, the walk that afternoonWe saw the water-flags in flower!
Words in this poem
- fulfill v. t.
- To fill up; to make full or complete. [OE. fulfillen, fulfullen, AS. fulfyllan; ful full + fyllan to fill. See Full, a., and Fill, v. t.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Spirit’s Epochs 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 Spirit’s Epochs, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/the-spirit-s-epochs.html, id L12253.
Form and metre
The Spirit’s Epochs is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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 ----ABABCDCD events · fulfill'd · consequence · reveal'd · dayA · postponedB · awayA · groan'dB · moonC · hourD · afternoonC · flowerD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not in the crises of events, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Of compass’d hopes, or fears fulfill’d, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Or acts of gravest consequence, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Are life’s delight and depth reveal’d. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| The day of days was not the day; | 8 | ········ |
| That went before, or was postponed; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The night Death took our lamp away | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| Was not the night on which we groan’d. | 8 | ········ |
| I drew my bride, beneath the moon, | 8 | ········ |
| Across my threshold; happy hour! | 9 | ˘/·/·/˘/˘ |
| But, ah, the walk that afternoon | 8 | ······˘/ |
| We saw the water-flags in flower! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
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.