Tithonus
So when the verdure of his life was shed,With all the grace of ripened manlihead,And on his locks, but now so lovable,Old age like desolating winter fell,Leaving them white and flowerless and forlorn:Then from his bed the Goddess of the MornSoftly withheld, yet cherished him no lessWith pious works of pitying tenderness;Till when at length with vacant, heedless eyes,And hoary height bent down none otherwiseThan burdened willows bend beneath their weightOf snow when winter winds turn temperate, --So bowed with years--when still he lingered on:Then to the daughter of HyperionThis counsel seemed the best: for she, afarBy dove-gray seas under the morning star,Where, on the wide world's uttermost extremes,Her amber-walled, auroral palace gleams,High in an orient chamber bade prepareAn everlasting couch, and laid him there,And leaving, closed the shining doors. But he,Deathless by Jove's compassionless decree,Found not, as others find, a dreamless rest.There wakeful, with half-waking dreams oppressed,Still in an aural, visionary hazeFloat round him vanished forms of happier days;Still at his side he fancies to beholdThe rosy, radiant thing beloved of old;And oft, as over dewy meads at morn,Far inland from a sunrise coast is borneThe drowsy, muffled moaning of the sea,Even so his voice flows on unceasingly, --Lisping sweet names of passion overblown,Breaking with dull, persistent undertoneThe breathless silence that forever broodsRound those colossal, lustrous solitudes.Times change. Man's fortune prospers, or it falls.Change harbors not in those eternal hallsAnd tranquil chamber where Tithonus lies.But through his window there the eastern skiesFall palely fair to the dim ocean's end.There, in blue mist where air and ocean blend,The lazy clouds that sail the wide world o'erFalter and turn where they can sail no more.There singing groves, there spacious gardens blow --Cedars and silver poplars, row on row,Through whose black boughs on her appointed night,Flooding his chamber with enchanted light,Lifts the full moon's immeasurable sphere,Crimson and huge and wonderfully near.
Words in this poem 21
- lovable a.
- Having qualities that excite, or are fitted to excite, love; worthy of love.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- 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.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- hyperion n.
- The god of the sun; in the later mythology identified with Apollo, and distinguished for his beauty.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- uttermost a.
- Extreme; utmost; being; in the farthest, greatest, or highest degree; as, the uttermost extent or end. [From Utter, a.; cf. Utmost, and Outermost.]
- auroral a.
- Belonging to, or resembling, the aurora (the dawn or the northern lights); rosy.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- dreamless a.
- Free from, or without, dreams. Camden.
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- aural a.
- Of or pertaining to the air, or to an aura. [L. aura air.]
- undertone n.
- A low or subdued tone or utterance; a tone less loud than usual.
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
- colossal a.
- Of enormous size; gigantic; huge; as, a colossal statue. [Cf. F. cossal, L. colosseus. See Colossus.]
- palely adv.
- In a pale manner; dimly; wanly; not freshly or ruddily. [From Pale, a.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- flooding n.
- The filling or covering with water or other fluid; overflow; inundation; the filling anything to excess.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tithonus 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, Tithonus, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/tithonus.html, id L12970.
Form and metre
Tithonus is 50 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOO--PPQQRRSSTT--UUVVWW shedA · manliheadA · lovableB · fellB · forlornC · mornC · lessD · tendernessD · eyesE · otherwiseE · weightF · temperateF · onG · hyperionG · afarH · starH · extremesI · gleamsI · prepareJ · thereJ · heK · decreeK · restL · oppressedL · hazeM · daysM · beholdN · oldN · mornO · borneO · sea · unceasingly · overblownP · undertoneP · broodsQ · solitudesQ · fallsR · hallsR · liesS · skiesS · endT · blendT · o'er · more · blowU · rowU · nightV · lightV · sphereW · nearW
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So when the verdure of his life was shed, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With all the grace of ripened manlihead, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And on his locks, but now so lovable, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Old age like desolating winter fell, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Leaving them white and flowerless and forlorn: | 11 | /˘···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Then from his bed the Goddess of the Morn | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Softly withheld, yet cherished him no less | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| With pious works of pitying tenderness; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Till when at length with vacant, heedless eyes, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And hoary height bent down none otherwise | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Than burdened willows bend beneath their weight | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Of snow when winter winds turn temperate, -- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| So bowed with years--when still he lingered on: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then to the daughter of Hyperion | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| This counsel seemed the best: for she, afar | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| By dove-gray seas under the morning star, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where, on the wide world's uttermost extremes, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Her amber-walled, auroral palace gleams, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| High in an orient chamber bade prepare | 11 | ···/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| An everlasting couch, and laid him there, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And leaving, closed the shining doors. But he, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Deathless by Jove's compassionless decree, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Found not, as others find, a dreamless rest. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There wakeful, with half-waking dreams oppressed, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Still in an aural, visionary haze | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘· |
| Float round him vanished forms of happier days; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Still at his side he fancies to behold | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The rosy, radiant thing beloved of old; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And oft, as over dewy meads at morn, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Far inland from a sunrise coast is borne | 10 | ·/···/···· |
| The drowsy, muffled moaning of the sea, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Even so his voice flows on unceasingly, -- | 10 | /········· |
| Lisping sweet names of passion overblown, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Breaking with dull, persistent undertone | 10 | /˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| The breathless silence that forever broods | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Round those colossal, lustrous solitudes. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Times change. Man's fortune prospers, or it falls. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Change harbors not in those eternal halls | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| And tranquil chamber where Tithonus lies. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| But through his window there the eastern skies | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Fall palely fair to the dim ocean's end. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| There, in blue mist where air and ocean blend, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The lazy clouds that sail the wide world o'er | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Falter and turn where they can sail no more. | 10 | /˘········ |
| There singing groves, there spacious gardens blow -- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Cedars and silver poplars, row on row, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Through whose black boughs on her appointed night, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Flooding his chamber with enchanted light, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Lifts the full moon's immeasurable sphere, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘· |
| Crimson and huge and wonderfully near. | 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.