Fata Morgana
A blue-eyed phantom far beforeIs laughing, leaping toward the sun:Like lead I chase it evermore,I pant and run.
It breaks the sunlight bound on bound:Goes singing as it leaps alongTo sheep-bells with a dreamy soundA dreamy song.
I laugh, it is so brisk and gay;It is so far before, I weep:I hope I shall lie down some day,Lie down and sleep.
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- pant v. i.
- To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion or from eagerness or excitement; to respire with heaving of the breast; to gasp. [Cf. F. panteler to gasp for breath, OF. panteisier to be breathless, F. pantois out of breath; perh. akin to E. phantom, the verb prob. orig. meaning, to have t]
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fata Morgana is in the public domain. This text is taken from Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #16950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Christina Rossetti, Fata Morgana, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/fata-morgana.html, id L04259.
Form and metre
Fata Morgana is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 25% 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 ABAB beforeA · sunB · evermoreA · runB
- 2 ABAB boundA · alongB · soundA · songB
- 3 ABAB gayA · weepB · dayA · sleepB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A blue-eyed phantom far before | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is laughing, leaping toward the sun: | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Like lead I chase it evermore, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I pant and run. | 4 | ···· |
| It breaks the sunlight bound on bound: | 8 | ···/···· |
| Goes singing as it leaps along | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| To sheep-bells with a dreamy sound | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A dreamy song. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I laugh, it is so brisk and gay; | 8 | ········ |
| It is so far before, I weep: | 8 | ········ |
| I hope I shall lie down some day, | 8 | ········ |
| Lie down and sleep. | 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.