El Extraviado
Over the radiant ridges borne out on the offshore wind,I have sailed as a butterfly sails whose priming wings unfurledLeave the familiar gardens and visited fields behindTo follow a cloud in the east rose-flushed on the rim of the world.
I have strayed from the trodden highway for walking with upturned eyesOn the way of the wind in the treetops, and the drift of the tinted rack.For the will to be losing no wonder of sunny or starlit skiesI have chosen the sod for my pillow and a threadbare coat for my back.
Evening of ample horizons, opaline, delicate, pure,Shadow of clouds on green valleys, trailed over meadows and trees,Cities of ardent adventure where the harvests of Joy mature,Forests whose murmuring voices are amorous prophecies,
World of romance and profusion, still round my journey spreadThe glamours, the glints, the enthralments, the nurture of one whose feetFrom hours unblessed by beauty nor lighted by love have fledAs the shade of the tomb on his pathway and the scent of the winding-sheet.
I never could rest from roving nor put from my heart this needTo be seeing how lovably Nature in flower and face hath wrought, --In flower and meadow and mountain and heaven where the white clouds breedAnd the cunning of silken meshes where the heart's desire lies caught.
Over the azure expanses, on the offshore breezes borne,I have sailed as a butterfly sails, nor recked where the impulse led,Sufficed with the sunshine and freedom, the warmth and the summer morn,The infinite glory surrounding, the infinite blue ahead.
Words in this poem
- offshore a.
- From the shore; as, an offshore wind; an offshore signal.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- starlit a.
- Lighted by the stars; starlight.
- threadbare a.
- Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
- opaline a.
- Of, pertaining to, or like, opal in appearance; having changeable colors like those of the opal. [Cf. F. opalin.]
- unblessed a.
- Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
El Extraviado is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #617; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alan Seeger, El Extraviado, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/el-extraviado.html, id L12926.
Form and metre
El Extraviado is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 73% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 ABAB windA · unfurledB · behindA · worldB
- 2 ABAB eyesA · rackB · skiesA · backB
- 3 ABAB pureA · treesB · matureA · propheciesB
- 4 ABAB spreadA · feetB · fledA · sheetB
- 5 ABAB needA · wroughtB · breedA · caughtB
- 6 ABAB borneA · ledB · mornA · aheadB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Over the radiant ridges borne out on the offshore wind, | 13 | ··/˘/˘····//· |
| I have sailed as a butterfly sails whose priming wings unfurled | 15 | ·····/˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Leave the familiar gardens and visited fields behind | 13 | ··˘/˘/˘·/˘··· |
| To follow a cloud in the east rose-flushed on the rim of the world. | 16 | ·/˘············· |
| I have strayed from the trodden highway for walking with upturned eyes | 16 | ·····/˘/··/˘·˘/· |
| On the way of the wind in the treetops, and the drift of the tinted rack. | 18 | ········/······/˘· |
| For the will to be losing no wonder of sunny or starlit skies | 17 | ·····/˘·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| I have chosen the sod for my pillow and a threadbare coat for my back. | 18 | ··/˘····/˘··/····· |
| Evening of ample horizons, opaline, delicate, pure, | 14 | /˘·/˘˘/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Shadow of clouds on green valleys, trailed over meadows and trees, | 14 | /·····/˘··/··· |
| Cities of ardent adventure where the harvests of Joy mature, | 16 | /˘·/˘˘/˘··/˘··˘/ |
| Forests whose murmuring voices are amorous prophecies, | 12 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| World of romance and profusion, still round my journey spread | 14 | ··/˘·˘/˘···/˘· |
| The glamours, the glints, the enthralments, the nurture of one whose feet | 16 | ·/˘·······/˘···· |
| From hours unblessed by beauty nor lighted by love have fled | 14 | ·/···/˘·/˘···· |
| As the shade of the tomb on his pathway and the scent of the winding-sheet. | 18 | ········/······/˘· |
| I never could rest from roving nor put from my heart this need | 14 | ·/···/˘······· |
| To be seeing how lovably Nature in flower and face hath wrought, -- | 15 | ··/····/˘·/···· |
| In flower and meadow and mountain and heaven where the white clouds breed | 15 | ·/·/··/˘·/····· |
| And the cunning of silken meshes where the heart's desire lies caught. | 16 | ··/˘·/˘/˘···˘/·· |
| Over the azure expanses, on the offshore breezes borne, | 14 | ··/˘˘/˘··///˘· |
| I have sailed as a butterfly sails, nor recked where the impulse led, | 16 | ·····/˘······/˘· |
| Sufficed with the sunshine and freedom, the warmth and the summer morn, | 16 | ˘/··/··/˘····/˘· |
| The infinite glory surrounding, the infinite blue ahead. | 14 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·˘/ |
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.