Creation
As the pregnant womb of nightThrills with imprisoned light,Misty, nebulous-born,Growing deeper into her morn,So man, with no sudden stride,Bloomed into pride.
In the womb of the All-spiritThe universe lay; the willBlind, an atom, lay still.The pulse of matterObeyed in aweAnd strove to flatterThe rhythmic law.But the will grew; nature feared,And cast off the child she reared,Now her rival, instinct-led,With her own powers impregnated.
Brain and heart, blood-fervid flowers,Creation is each act of yours.Your roots are God, the pauseless cause,But your boughs sway to self-windy laws.Perception is no dreamy birthAnd magnifies transfigured earth.With each new light, our eyes receiveA larger power to perceive.
If we could unveil our eyes,Become as wise as the All-wise,No love would be, no mystery:Love and joy dwell in infinity.Love begets love; reaching highestWe find a higher still, unseenFrom where we stood to reach the first;Moses must die to live in Christ,The seed be buried to live to green.Perfection must begin from worst.Christ perceives a larger reachless love,More full, and grows to reach thereof.The green plant yearns for its yellow fruit.Perfection always is a root,And joy a motion that doth feedItself on light of its own speed,And round its radiant circle runs,Creating and devouring suns.
Words in this poem
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
- rhythmic a.
- Pertaining to, or of the nature of, rhythm DAy and night I worked my rhythmic thought. Mrs. Browning. [Gr. rhythmicus, F. rhythmique.]
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- unveil v. t.
- To remove a veil from; to divest of a veil; to uncover; to disclose to view; to reveal; as, she unveiled her face. [1st pref. un- + veil.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- reachless a.
- Being beyond reach; lofty.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Creation is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Isaac Rosenberg, Project Gutenberg ebook #66889; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Isaac Rosenberg, Creation, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66889, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rosenberg-poems/creation.html, id L02532.
Form and metre
Creation is 43 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCC nightA · lightA · bornB · mornB · strideC · prideC
- 2 -AABCBCDDEE spirit · willA · stillA · matterB · aweC · flatterB · lawC · fearedD · rearedD · ledE · impregnatedE
- 3 A-AABBCC flowersA · yours · causeA · lawsA · birthB · earthB · receiveC · perceiveC
- 4 AA--BCBBCBDDEEFFGG eyesA · wiseA · mystery · infinity · highestB · unseenC · firstB · christB · greenC · worstB · loveD · thereofD · fruitE · rootE · feedF · speedF · runsG · sunsG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As the pregnant womb of night | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thrills with imprisoned light, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Misty, nebulous-born, | 6 | /˘/˘˘· |
| Growing deeper into her morn, | 7 | //˘···· |
| So man, with no sudden stride, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bloomed into pride. | 5 | ·˘··· |
| In the womb of the All-spirit | 7 | ······/ |
| The universe lay; the will | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Blind, an atom, lay still. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| The pulse of matter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Obeyed in awe | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| And strove to flatter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The rhythmic law. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But the will grew; nature feared, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And cast off the child she reared, | 7 | ······· |
| Now her rival, instinct-led, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| With her own powers impregnated. | 8 | ···/˘/·˘ |
| Brain and heart, blood-fervid flowers, | 7 | ····/˘/ |
| Creation is each act of yours. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Your roots are God, the pauseless cause, | 9 | ········· |
| But your boughs sway to self-windy laws. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Perception is no dreamy birth | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And magnifies transfigured earth. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With each new light, our eyes receive | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| A larger power to perceive. | 7 | ·/˘/·˘/ |
| If we could unveil our eyes, | 7 | ···˘//· |
| Become as wise as the All-wise, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| No love would be, no mystery: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Love and joy dwell in infinity. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Love begets love; reaching highest | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| We find a higher still, unseen | 7 | ···/·˘/ |
| From where we stood to reach the first; | 8 | ········ |
| Moses must die to live in Christ, | 8 | /˘······ |
| The seed be buried to live to green. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Perfection must begin from worst. | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Christ perceives a larger reachless love, | 9 | ·˘/·/˘/˘· |
| More full, and grows to reach thereof. | 8 | ········ |
| The green plant yearns for its yellow fruit. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Perfection always is a root, | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| And joy a motion that doth feed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Itself on light of its own speed, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And round its radiant circle runs, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Creating and devouring suns. | 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.