Oneata
A hilltop sought by every soothing breezeThat loves the melody of murmuring boughs,Cool shades, green acreage, and antique houseFronting the ocean and the dawn; than theseOld monks built never for the spirit's easeCloisters more calm--not Cluny nor Clairvaux;Sweet are the noises from the bay below,And cuckoos calling in the tulip-trees.Here, a yet empty suitor in thy train,Beloved Poesy, great joy was mineTo while a listless spell of summer days,Happier than hoarder in each evening's gain,When evenings found me richer by one line,One verse well turned, or serviceable phrase.
Words in this poem
- hilltop n.
- The top of a hill.
- acreage n.
- Acres collectively; as, the acreage of a farm or a country.
- suitor n.
- One who sues, petitions, or entreats; a petitioner; an applicant.
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- listless a.
- Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless. [OE. listles, lustles. See Lust.]
- hoarder n.
- One who hoards.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Oneata 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, Oneata, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/oneata.html, id L12959.
Form and metre
Oneata is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A--AABBACDECDE breezeA · boughs · house · theseA · easeA · clairvauxB · belowB · treesA · trainC · mineD · daysE · gainC · lineD · phraseE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A hilltop sought by every soothing breeze | 10 | ·/···/˘/˘· |
| That loves the melody of murmuring boughs, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| Cool shades, green acreage, and antique house | 10 | ···/˘˘·˘/· |
| Fronting the ocean and the dawn; than these | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Old monks built never for the spirit's ease | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Cloisters more calm--not Cluny nor Clairvaux; | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Sweet are the noises from the bay below, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And cuckoos calling in the tulip-trees. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Here, a yet empty suitor in thy train, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Beloved Poesy, great joy was mine | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘···· |
| To while a listless spell of summer days, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Happier than hoarder in each evening's gain, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| When evenings found me richer by one line, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| One verse well turned, or serviceable phrase. | 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.