To Sir Richard F. Burton (On His Translation of "The Arabian Nights")
Westward the sun sinks, grave and glad; but farEastward, with laughter and tempestuous tears,Cloud, rain, and splendour as of orient spears,Keen as the sea's thrill toward a kindling star,The sundawn breaks the barren twilight's barAnd fires the mist and slays it. Years on yearsVanish, but he that hearkens eastward hearsBright music from the world where shadows are.
Where shadows are not shadows. Hand in handA man's word bids them rise and smile and standAnd triumph. All that glorious orient glowsDefiant of the dusk. Our twilight landTrembles; but all the heaven is all one rose,Whence laughing love dissolves her frosts and snows.
Words in this poem
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- defiant a.
- Full of defiance; bold; insolent; as, a defiant spirit or act. [Cf. F. défiant, p. pr. of défier. See Defy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Sir Richard F. Burton (On His Translation of "The Arabian Nights") is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Ballads (Third Series) Taken from The Collected Poetical Works of Algernon Charles Swinburne—Vol. III, Project Gutenberg ebook #18726; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Algernon Charles Swinburne, To Sir Richard F. Burton (On His Translation of "The Arabian Nights"), in Poems and Ballads (1866), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swinburne-poems-ballads/to-sir-richard-f-burton-on-his-translation-of-the-arabian-ni.html, id L07099.
Form and metre
To Sir Richard F. Burton (On His Translation of "The Arabian Nights") is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 57% 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 ABBAABBA farA · tearsB · spearsB · starA · barA · yearsB · hearsB · areA
- 2 AABABB handA · standA · glowsB · landA · roseB · snowsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Westward the sun sinks, grave and glad; but far | 10 | /˘········ |
| Eastward, with laughter and tempestuous tears, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Cloud, rain, and splendour as of orient spears, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Keen as the sea's thrill toward a kindling star, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| The sundawn breaks the barren twilight's bar | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| And fires the mist and slays it. Years on years | 10 | ·/········ |
| Vanish, but he that hearkens eastward hears | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Bright music from the world where shadows are. | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Where shadows are not shadows. Hand in hand | 10 | ·/···/···· |
| A man's word bids them rise and smile and stand | 10 | ·········· |
| And triumph. All that glorious orient glows | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘·· |
| Defiant of the dusk. Our twilight land | 10 | ˘/˘···//·· |
| Trembles; but all the heaven is all one rose, | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| Whence laughing love dissolves her frosts and snows. | 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.