Cancelled Passage of the Ode to Liberty
Within a cavern of man's trackless spiritIs throned an Image, so intensely fairThat the adventurous thoughts that wander near itWorship, and as they kneel, tremble and wearThe splendour of its presence, and the lightPenetrates their dreamlike frameTill they become charged with the strength of flame.
I fear thy kisses, gentle maiden,Thou needest not fear mine;My spirit is too deeply ladenEver to burthen thine.
I fear thy mien, thy tones, thy motion,Thou needest not fear mine;Innocent is the heart's devotionWith which I worship thine.
Words in this poem
- trackless a.
- Having no track; marked by no footsteps; untrodden; as, a trackless desert.
- intensely adv.
- Intently. J. Spencer.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cancelled Passage of the Ode to Liberty is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Cancelled Passage of the Ode to Liberty, in The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/cancelled-passage-of-the-ode-to-liberty.html, id L16394.
Form and metre
Cancelled Passage of the Ode to Liberty is 15 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 53% 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 ABABACC spiritA · fairB · itA · wearB · lightA · frameC · flameC
- 2 ABAB maidenA · mineB · ladenA · thineB
- 3 ABAB motionA · mineB · devotionA · thineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Within a cavern of man's trackless spirit | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Is throned an Image, so intensely fair | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| That the adventurous thoughts that wander near it | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘·· |
| Worship, and as they kneel, tremble and wear | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| The splendour of its presence, and the light | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Penetrates their dreamlike frame | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Till they become charged with the strength of flame. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| I fear thy kisses, gentle maiden, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Thou needest not fear mine; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My spirit is too deeply laden | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Ever to burthen thine. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| I fear thy mien, thy tones, thy motion, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Thou needest not fear mine; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Innocent is the heart's devotion | 9 | /˘˘···˘/˘ |
| With which I worship thine. | 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.