The Landmark
Was that the landmark? What,--the foolish wellWhose wave, low down, I did not stoop to drink,But sat and flung the pebbles from its brinkIn sport to send its imaged skies pell-mell,(And mine own image, had I noted well!)Was that my point of turning?--I had thoughtThe stations of my course should rise unsought,As altar-stone or ensigned citadel.
But lo! the path is missed, I must go back,And thirst to drink when next I reach the springWhich once I stained, which since may have grown black.Yet though no light be left nor bird now singAs here I turn, I'll thank God, hastening,That the same goal is still on the same track.
Words in this poem
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Landmark 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, The Landmark, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/the-landmark.html, id L20984.
Form and metre
The Landmark is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABBAACCA wellA · drinkB · brinkB · mellA · wellA · thoughtC · unsoughtC · citadelA
- 2 ABABBA backA · springB · blackA · singB · hasteningB · trackA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Was that the landmark? What,--the foolish well | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Whose wave, low down, I did not stoop to drink, | 10 | ·········· |
| But sat and flung the pebbles from its brink | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In sport to send its imaged skies pell-mell, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| (And mine own image, had I noted well!) | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Was that my point of turning?--I had thought | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The stations of my course should rise unsought, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As altar-stone or ensigned citadel. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| But lo! the path is missed, I must go back, | 10 | ·········· |
| And thirst to drink when next I reach the spring | 10 | ·········· |
| Which once I stained, which since may have grown black. | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet though no light be left nor bird now sing | 10 | ·········· |
| As here I turn, I'll thank God, hastening, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| That the same goal is still on the same track. | 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.