Children of Lir
We woke from our sleep in the bosom where cradled together we lay:The love of the Dark Hidden Father went with us upon our way.And gay was the breath in our being, and never a sorrow or fearWas on us, as singing together, we flew from the infinite Lir.
Through nights lit with diamond and sapphire we raced with theChildren of Dawn,A chain that was silver and golden linked spirit to spirit, my swan.Till day in the heavens passed over, and still grew the beatof our wings,And the Breath of the Darkness enfolded to teach us unspeakable things.
Yet lower we fell and for comfort our pinionless spirits had nowThe leaning of bosom to bosom, the lifting of lip unto brow.Though chained to the earth yet we mourned not the loss of ourheaven above,But passed from the vision of Beauty to the fathomless being of Love.
Still gay is the breath in our being, we wait for the BellBranch to ringTo call us away to the Father, and then we will rise on the wing,And fly through the twilights of time till the home lights ofheaven appear;Our spirits through love and through longing made one in theinfinite Lir.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- fathomless a.
- Incapable of being fathomed; immeasurable; that can not be sounded.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Children of Lir is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Divine Vision, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #36913; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George William Russell, Children of Lir, in The Divine Vision and Other Poems (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36913, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/russell-divine-vision/children-of-lir.html, id L11546.
Form and metre
Children of Lir is 22 lines in 4 stanzas. 76% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.0 syllables. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AA-- layA · wayA · fear · lir
- 2 -AA-BB the · dawnA · swanA · beat · wingsB · thingsB
- 3 AA-BB nowA · browA · our · aboveB · loveB
- 4 -AA---- bell · ringA · wingA · of · appear · the · lir
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We woke from our sleep in the bosom where cradled together we lay: | 17 | ···/···/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| The love of the Dark Hidden Father went with us upon our way. | 16 | ·····/˘/˘·····/· |
| And gay was the breath in our being, and never a sorrow or fear | 15 | ······//·/·/˘·· |
| Was on us, as singing together, we flew from the infinite Lir. | 16 | ····/˘˘/˘····/˘· |
| Through nights lit with diamond and sapphire we raced with the | 13 | ····/˘·/˘···· |
| Children of Dawn, | 4 | /˘·· |
| A chain that was silver and golden linked spirit to spirit, my swan. | 15 | ····/˘·/˘·/·/·· |
| Till day in the heavens passed over, and still grew the beat | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| of our wings, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And the Breath of the Darkness enfolded to teach us unspeakable things. | 17 | ·····/˘˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Yet lower we fell and for comfort our pinionless spirits had now | 16 | ·/····/˘/···/˘·· |
| The leaning of bosom to bosom, the lifting of lip unto brow. | 17 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·/˘····· |
| Though chained to the earth yet we mourned not the loss of our | 13 | ············/ |
| heaven above, | 4 | /˘·· |
| But passed from the vision of Beauty to the fathomless being of Love. | 17 | ····/˘·/˘··/˘˘/·· |
| Still gay is the breath in our being, we wait for the Bell | 13 | ······//····· |
| Branch to ring | 3 | ··· |
| To call us away to the Father, and then we will rise on the wing, | 17 | ···˘/··/˘········ |
| And fly through the twilights of time till the home lights of | 13 | ····/········ |
| heaven appear; | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Our spirits through love and through longing made one in the | 13 | //˘····/˘···· |
| infinite Lir. | 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.