From Dawn to Noon
As the child knows not if his mother's faceBe fair; nor of his elders yet can deemWhat each most is; but as of hill or streamAt dawn, all glimmering life surrounds his place:Who yet, tow'rd noon of his half-weary race,Pausing awhile beneath the high sun-beamAnd gazing steadily back,--as through a dream,In things long past new features now can trace:--
Even so the thought that is at length fullgrownTurns back to note the sun-smit paths, all greyAnd marvellous once, where first it walked alone;And haply doubts, amid the unblenching day,Which most or least impelled its onward way,--Those unknown things or these things overknown.
Words in this poem
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From Dawn to Noon is in the public domain. This text is taken from The House of Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #3692; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, From Dawn to Noon, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/from-dawn-to-noon.html, id L20996.
Form and metre
From Dawn to Noon is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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.
- 1 ABBAABBA faceA · deemB · streamB · placeA · raceA · beamB · dreamB · traceA
- 2 ABABBA fullgrownA · greyB · aloneA · dayB · wayB · overknownA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As the child knows not if his mother's face | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Be fair; nor of his elders yet can deem | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What each most is; but as of hill or stream | 10 | ·········· |
| At dawn, all glimmering life surrounds his place: | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Who yet, tow'rd noon of his half-weary race, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Pausing awhile beneath the high sun-beam | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| And gazing steadily back,--as through a dream, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In things long past new features now can trace:-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Even so the thought that is at length fullgrown | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Turns back to note the sun-smit paths, all grey | 10 | ·········· |
| And marvellous once, where first it walked alone; | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| And haply doubts, amid the unblenching day, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/····· |
| Which most or least impelled its onward way,-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Those unknown things or these things overknown. | 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.