On Santa Maura—olim Deucadia
And the Nelumbo bud that floats for ever;With Indian Cupid down the holy river.
“Dicite sacrorum præsides nemorum Deæ, &c.Quis ille primus cujus ex imagineNatura solers finxit humanum genus?Eternus, incorruptus, æquævus polo,Unusque et universus exemplar Dei.”
“Non cui profundum Cæcitas lumen dedit
Seltsamen Tochter JovisSeinem Schosskinde
Of molten stars their pavement, such as fallThro’ the ebon air.
Some star which, from the ruin’d roof
O! were there an island,Tho’ ever so wild,Where woman might smile, and
Un no rompido sueno—Un dia puro—allegre—libreQuiera—Libre de amor—de zelo—De odio—de esperanza—de rezelo.—Luis Ponce de Leon.
There be tears of perfect moan
Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows
Words in this poem
- nelumbo n.
- A genus of great water lilies. The North American species is Nelumbo lutea, the Asiatic is the sacred lotus, N. speciosa. [Written also Nelumbium.] [Ceylonese word.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- primus n.
- One of the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, who presides at the meetings of the bishops, and has certain privileges but no metropolitan authority. Internat. Cyc. [L., the first.]
- polo n.
- A game of ball of Eastern origin, resembling hockey, with the players on horseback. [Of Eastern origin; -- properly, the ball used in the game.]
- exemplar n.
- A model, original, or pattern, to be copied or imitated; a specimen; sometimes; an ideal model or type, as that which an artist conceives. [L. exemplar, exemplum: cf. F. exemplaire. See Example, and cf. Examper, Sampler.]
- ebon a.
- Consisting of ebony.
- allegre n.
- One who affirms or declares.
- shadowing n.
- Shade, or gradation of light and color; shading. Feltham.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Santa Maura—olim Deucadia is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of Edgar Allan Poe, Project Gutenberg ebook #79019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Allan Poe, On Santa Maura—olim Deucadia, in The Raven, and Other Poems (1827–1849), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #79019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poe-poems/on-santa-maura-olim-deucadia.html, id L26195.
Form and metre
On Santa Maura—olim Deucadia is 23 lines in 10 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And the Nelumbo bud that floats for ever; | 10 | ··˘/˘····/ |
| With Indian Cupid down the holy river. | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| “Dicite sacrorum præsides nemorum Deæ, &c. | 12 | ············ |
| Quis ille primus cujus ex imagine | 10 | ··/˘···˘/˘ |
| Natura solers finxit humanum genus? | 12 | ···/˘·····/˘ |
| Eternus, incorruptus, æquævus polo, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Unusque et universus exemplar Dei.” | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| “Non cui profundum Cæcitas lumen dedit | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Seltsamen Tochter Jovis | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Seinem Schosskinde | 4 | ···· |
| Of molten stars their pavement, such as fall | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Thro’ the ebon air. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Some star which, from the ruin’d roof | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O! were there an island, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Tho’ ever so wild, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Where woman might smile, and | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Un no rompido sueno— | 7 | ······· |
| Un dia puro—allegre—libre | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Quiera— | 2 | ·· |
| Libre de amor—de zelo— | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| De odio—de esperanza—de rezelo.—Luis Ponce de Leon. | 19 | ············˘//˘·/˘ |
| There be tears of perfect moan | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
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.