From "Phantastes"
I have a bitter Thought, a SnakeThat used to sting my life to pain.I strove to cast it far away,But every night and every dayIt crawled back to my heart again.
It was in vain to live or strive,To think or sleep, to work or pray;At last I bade this thine accursedGnaw at my heart, and do its worst,And so I let it have its way.
Thus said I, "I shall never fallInto a false and dreaming peace,And then awake, with sudden start,To feel it biting at my heart,For now the pain can never cease."
But I gained more; for I have foundThat such a snake's envenomed charmMust always, always find a part,Deep in the centre of my heart,Which it can never wound or harm.
It is coiled round my heart to-day.It sleeps at times, this cruel snake,And while it sleeps it never stings:-Hush! let us talk of other things,Lest it should hear me and awake.
Words in this poem
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- 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,]
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From "Phantastes" is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, From "Phantastes", in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/from-phantastes.html, id L21786.
Form and metre
From "Phantastes" is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 -ABBA snake · painA · awayB · dayB · againA
- 2 -ABBA strive · prayA · accursedB · worstB · wayA
- 3 -ABBA fall · peaceA · startB · heartB · ceaseA
- 4 -ABBA found · charmA · partB · heartB · harmA
- 5 -ABBA day · snakeA · stingsB · thingsB · awakeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I have a bitter Thought, a Snake | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That used to sting my life to pain. | 8 | ········ |
| I strove to cast it far away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But every night and every day | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| It crawled back to my heart again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| It was in vain to live or strive, | 8 | ········ |
| To think or sleep, to work or pray; | 8 | ········ |
| At last I bade this thine accursed | 8 | ········ |
| Gnaw at my heart, and do its worst, | 8 | ········ |
| And so I let it have its way. | 8 | ········ |
| Thus said I, "I shall never fall | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Into a false and dreaming peace, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And then awake, with sudden start, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| To feel it biting at my heart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For now the pain can never cease." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But I gained more; for I have found | 8 | ········ |
| That such a snake's envenomed charm | 8 | ········ |
| Must always, always find a part, | 8 | ·/·/···· |
| Deep in the centre of my heart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which it can never wound or harm. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It is coiled round my heart to-day. | 8 | ········ |
| It sleeps at times, this cruel snake, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And while it sleeps it never stings:- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hush! let us talk of other things, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lest it should hear me and awake. | 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.