Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores
I say now, Fernando, that on that dayThe mind roamed as a moth roams,Among the blooms beyond the open sand;
And that whatever noise the motion of the wavesMade on the sea-weeds and the covered stonesDisturbed not even the most idle ear.
Then it was that that monstered mothWhich had lain folded against the blueAnd the colored purple of the lazy sea,
And which had drowsed along the bony shores,Shut to the blather that the water made,Rose up besprent and sought the flaming red
Dabbled with yellow pollen--red as redAs the flag above the old café--And roamed there all the stupid afternoon.
Words in this poem
- blather v. i.
- To talk foolishly, or nonsensically. G. Eliot.
- besprent p. p.
- Sprinkled over; strewed. [OE. bespreynt, p. p. of besprengen, bisprengen, to besprinkle, AS. besprengan, akin to D. & G. besprengen; pref. be- + sprengan to sprinkle. See Sprinkle.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harmonium, Project Gutenberg ebook #78743; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Wallace Stevens, Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores, in Harmonium (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #78743, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stevens-harmonium/hibiscus-on-the-sleeping-shores.html, id L01018.
Form and metre
Hibiscus on the Sleeping Shores is 15 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 47% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 say now, Fernando, that on that day | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| The mind roamed as a moth roams, | 7 | ······· |
| Among the blooms beyond the open sand; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And that whatever noise the motion of the waves | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Made on the sea-weeds and the covered stones | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Disturbed not even the most idle ear. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Then it was that that monstered moth | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Which had lain folded against the blue | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And the colored purple of the lazy sea, | 11 | ··/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And which had drowsed along the bony shores, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Shut to the blather that the water made, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Rose up besprent and sought the flaming red | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Dabbled with yellow pollen--red as red | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| As the flag above the old café-- | 8 | ········ |
| And roamed there all the stupid afternoon. | 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.