Revolt
I would shake off the lethargy of this our time,and giveFor shadows--shapes of powerFor dreams--men.
"It is better to dream than do"?Aye! and, No!
Aye! if we dream great deeds, strong men,Hearts hot, thoughts mighty.
No! if we dream pale flowers,Slow-moving pageantry of hours that languidlyDrop as o'er-ripened fruit from sallow trees.If so we live and die not life but dreams,Great God, grant life in dreams,Not dalliance, but life!
Let us be men that dream,Not cowards, dabblers, waitersFor dead Time to reawaken and grant balmFor ills unnamed.
Great God, if we be damn'd to be not men but only dreams,Then let us be such dreams the world shall tremble atAnd know we be its rulers though but dreams!Then let us be such shadows as the world shall tremble atAnd know we be its masters though but shadow!
Great God, if men are grown but pale sick phantomsThat must live only in these mists and tempered lightsAnd tremble for dim hours that knock o'er loudOr tread too violent in passing them;
Great God, if these thy sons are grown such thin ephemera,I bid thee grapple chaos and begetSome new titanic spawn to pile the hills and stirThis earth again.
Words in this poem
- lethargy n.
- Morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked. [F. léthargie, L. letgargia, Gr. Lethe.]
- pageantry n.
- Scenic shows or spectacles, taken collectivelly; spectacular guality; splendor.
- dalliance n.
- The act of dallying, trifling, or fondling; interchange of caresses; wanton play. [From Dally.]
- 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,]
- ephemera n.
- A fever of one day's continuance only.
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Revolt is in the public domain. This text is taken from Personae, Project Gutenberg ebook #41162; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ezra Pound, Revolt, in Personae (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/revolt.html, id L01226.
Form and metre
Revolt is 31 lines in 8 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 4 A-ABB- flowersA · languidly · treesA · dreamsB · dreamsB · life
- 6 ABAB- dreamsA · atB · dreamsA · atB · shadow
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I would shake off the lethargy of this our time, | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| and give | 2 | ·· |
| For shadows--shapes of power | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| For dreams--men. | 3 | ··· |
| "It is better to dream than do"? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Aye! and, No! | 3 | ··· |
| Aye! if we dream great deeds, strong men, | 8 | ········ |
| Hearts hot, thoughts mighty. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| No! if we dream pale flowers, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Slow-moving pageantry of hours that languidly | 11 | ·/˘/˘·/···· |
| Drop as o'er-ripened fruit from sallow trees. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| If so we live and die not life but dreams, | 10 | ·········· |
| Great God, grant life in dreams, | 6 | ······ |
| Not dalliance, but life! | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Let us be men that dream, | 6 | ······ |
| Not cowards, dabblers, waiters | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| For dead Time to reawaken and grant balm | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| For ills unnamed. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Great God, if we be damn'd to be not men but only dreams, | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Then let us be such dreams the world shall tremble at | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| And know we be its rulers though but dreams! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Then let us be such shadows as the world shall tremble at | 14 | ·····/·····/˘· |
| And know we be its masters though but shadow! | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| Great God, if men are grown but pale sick phantoms | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| That must live only in these mists and tempered lights | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| And tremble for dim hours that knock o'er loud | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Or tread too violent in passing them; | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Great God, if these thy sons are grown such thin ephemera, | 14 | ··········˘/˘˘ |
| I bid thee grapple chaos and beget | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Some new titanic spawn to pile the hills and stir | 12 | ··˘/˘······· |
| This earth again. | 4 | ··˘/ |
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.