Epode 1A
I stood within the City disinterred;And heard the autumnal leaves like light footfallsOf spirits passing through the streets; and heardThe Mountain's slumberous voice at intervalsThrill through those roofless halls;The oracular thunder penetrating shookThe listening soul in my suspended blood;I felt that Earth out of her deep heart spoke--I felt, but heard not:--through white columns glowedThe isle-sustaining ocean-flood,A plane of light between two heavens of azure!Around me gleamed many a bright sepulchreOf whose pure beauty, Time, as if his pleasureWere to spare Death, had never made erasure;But every living lineament was clearAs in the sculptor's thought; and thereThe wreaths of stony myrtle, ivy, and pine,Like winter leaves o'ergrown by moulded snow,Seemed only not to move and growBecause the crystal silence of the airWeighed on their life; even as the Power divineWhich then lulled all things, brooded upon mine.
Words in this poem
- slumberous a.
- Inviting slumber; soporiferous.
- roofless a.
- Having no roof; as, a roofless house.
- oracular a.
- Of or pertaining to an oracle; uttering oracles; forecasting the future; as, an oracular tongue. [L. oracularius. See Oracle.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- sepulchre n.
- The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [OE. sepulcre, OF. sepulcre, F. sépulcre, fr. L. sepulcrum, sepulchrum, fr. sepelire to bury.]
- erasure n.
- The act of erasing; a scratching out; obliteration. [From Erase.]
- lineament n.
- One of the outlines, exterior features, or distinctive marks, of a body or figure, particularly of the face; feature; form; mark; - - usually in the plural. [L. lineamentum, fr. linea line: cf. F. linéament. See 3d Line.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epode 1A 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, Epode 1A, in The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/epode-1a.html, id L16401.
Form and metre
Epode 1A is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 55% 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 ABABB-C--C----DDEFFDEE disinterredA · footfallsB · heardA · intervalsB · hallsB · shook · bloodC · spoke · glowed · floodC · azure · sepulchre · pleasure · erasure · clearD · thereD · pineE · snowF · growF · airD · divineE · mineE
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 stood within the City disinterred; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And heard the autumnal leaves like light footfalls | 11 | ···˘/˘···/· |
| Of spirits passing through the streets; and heard | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The Mountain's slumberous voice at intervals | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| Thrill through those roofless halls; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The oracular thunder penetrating shook | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/˘/˘·˘· |
| The listening soul in my suspended blood; | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| I felt that Earth out of her deep heart spoke-- | 10 | ·········· |
| I felt, but heard not:--through white columns glowed | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The isle-sustaining ocean-flood, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| A plane of light between two heavens of azure! | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Around me gleamed many a bright sepulchre | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Of whose pure beauty, Time, as if his pleasure | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Were to spare Death, had never made erasure; | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| But every living lineament was clear | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘·· |
| As in the sculptor's thought; and there | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The wreaths of stony myrtle, ivy, and pine, | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Like winter leaves o'ergrown by moulded snow, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Seemed only not to move and grow | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| Because the crystal silence of the air | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Weighed on their life; even as the Power divine | 10 | ····/··/˘/ |
| Which then lulled all things, brooded upon mine. | 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.