Solipsism
I could believe that I am here alone,And all the world my dream;The passion of the scene is all my own,And things that seem but seem.
Perchance an exhalation of my sorrowHath raised this vaporous show,For whence but from my soul should all things borrowSo deep a tinge of woe?
I keep the secret doubt within my breastTo be the gods' defence,To ease the heart by too much ruth oppressedAnd drive the horror hence.
O sorrow that the patient brute should cowerAnd die, not having sinned!O pity that the wild and fragile flowerShould shiver in the wind!
Then were I dreaming dreams I know not of,For that is part of meThat feels the piercing pang of grief and loveAnd doubts eternally.
But whether all to me the vision comeOr break in many beams,The pageant ever shifts, and being's sumIs but the sum of dreams.
Words in this poem
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- eternally adv.
- In an eternal manner.
- pageant n.
- A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Solipsism is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #49721; 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 Santayana, Solipsism, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49721, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/santayana-poems/solipsism.html, id L21742.
Form and metre
Solipsism is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABAB aloneA · dreamB · ownA · seemB
- 2 -AAA sorrow · showA · borrowA · woeA
- 3 ABAB breastA · defenceB · oppressedA · henceB
- 4 ABAB cowerA · sinnedB · flowerA · windB
- 5 A-A- ofA · me · loveA · eternally
- 6 ABAB comeA · beamsB · sumA · dreamsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I could believe that I am here alone, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| And all the world my dream; | 6 | ······ |
| The passion of the scene is all my own, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And things that seem but seem. | 6 | ······ |
| Perchance an exhalation of my sorrow | 11 | ˘/··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Hath raised this vaporous show, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| For whence but from my soul should all things borrow | 11 | ·········/· |
| So deep a tinge of woe? | 6 | ······ |
| I keep the secret doubt within my breast | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To be the gods' defence, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To ease the heart by too much ruth oppressed | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And drive the horror hence. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O sorrow that the patient brute should cower | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And die, not having sinned! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O pity that the wild and fragile flower | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Should shiver in the wind! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then were I dreaming dreams I know not of, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For that is part of me | 6 | ······ |
| That feels the piercing pang of grief and love | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And doubts eternally. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| But whether all to me the vision come | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or break in many beams, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The pageant ever shifts, and being's sum | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Is but the sum of dreams. | 6 | ······ |
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.