Calm is the morn without a sound
Calm is the morn without a sound,Calm as to suit a calmer grief,And only thro’ the faded leafThe chesnut pattering to the ground:
Calm and deep peace on this high wold,And on these dews that drench the furze,And all the silvery gossamersThat twinkle into green and gold:
Calm and still light on yon great plainThat sweeps with all its autumn bowers,And crowded farms and lessening towers,To mingle with the bounding main:
Calm and deep peace in this wide air,These leaves that redden to the fall;And in my heart, if calm at all,If any calm, a calm despair:
Calm on the seas, and silver sleep,And waves that sway themselves in rest,And dead calm in that noble breastWhich heaves but with the heaving deep.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- calmer n.
- One who, or that which, makes calm.
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- twinkle v. i.
- To open and shut the eye rapidly; to blink; to wink. [OE. twinklen, AS. twinclian; akin to OE. twinken to blink, wink, G. zwinken, zwinkern, and perhaps to E. twitch.]
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Calm is the morn without a sound is in the public domain. This text is taken from In memoriam, Project Gutenberg ebook #70950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, Calm is the morn without a sound, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-11.html, id L18371.
Form and metre
Calm is the morn without a sound is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABBA soundA · griefB · leafB · groundA
- 2 ABBA woldA · furzeB · gossamersB · goldA
- 3 ABBA plainA · bowersB · towersB · mainA
- 4 ABBA airA · fallB · allB · despairA
- 5 ABBA sleepA · restB · breastB · deepA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Calm is the morn without a sound, | 8 | ········ |
| Calm as to suit a calmer grief, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And only thro’ the faded leaf | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The chesnut pattering to the ground: | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Calm and deep peace on this high wold, | 8 | ········ |
| And on these dews that drench the furze, | 8 | ········ |
| And all the silvery gossamers | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| That twinkle into green and gold: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Calm and still light on yon great plain | 8 | ········ |
| That sweeps with all its autumn bowers, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And crowded farms and lessening towers, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘/ |
| To mingle with the bounding main: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Calm and deep peace in this wide air, | 8 | ········ |
| These leaves that redden to the fall; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in my heart, if calm at all, | 8 | ········ |
| If any calm, a calm despair: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Calm on the seas, and silver sleep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And waves that sway themselves in rest, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And dead calm in that noble breast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which heaves but with the heaving deep. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
On this poem
No doubt, the scenery described does not refer to Clevedon, but to some Lincolnshire wold, from which the whole range from marsh to the sea was visible.
The stillness of the spot is just broken by the sound of the horse chestnut falling through the dead leaves, and these are reddening to their own fall. No time of the year is more quiet, not even is the insect abroad: the waves just swell and fall noiselessly, and this reminds him of
"The dead calm in that noble breast Which heaves but with the heaving deep."
Notes from the edition 8
Section introductions from Alfred Gatty, <i>A Key to Lord Tennyson's “In Memoriam”</i>, 4th ed. (George Bell & Sons, 1900; Project Gutenberg #36637). Line notes credited “[Tennyson]” are Tennyson's own notes; “[Hallam Tennyson]” marks a note that is wholly his son and editor's own explanatory bracket, not the poet's own words; “[Emily Tennyson]” marks the few notes signed by his wife. All three are from <i>The Works of Tennyson, Annotated by the Author</i>, ed. Hallam, Lord Tennyson, vol. 3 (Macmillan, 1908; Internet Archive worksoftennysona03tennuoft). Line notes credited “[Bradley]” are A. C. Bradley's, from <i>A Commentary on Tennyson's In Memoriam</i> (Macmillan, 1910; Internet Archive commentaryontenn00braduoft). All these number sections by the final, 131-section text, not the site's own 1850 numbering: from final XL to LVIII subtract one section number, from LX on subtract two, to reach the site's; the site prints the 129-section first edition of 1850 (see the work's own blurb), so two of the final text's numbered sections have no home here and are skipped.
- Stanza 1, line 2 'calmer 'than mine (see 15, 16); or perhaps generally 'grown more calm.' [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 1 Calm and deep peace on this high wold. A Lincolnshire wold or upland from which the whole range of marsh to the sea is visible. [Tennyson]
- Stanza 2, line 4 ' that twinkle into green and gold,' as the dew-drops on them catch the sun. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 3 The church-towers, a striking feature of Lincolnshire landscapes, are mentioned again in XV. 7. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 4 'bounding': limiting, as in xvn. 6. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 3 With this uncertainty cf. his bewilderment at the apparent change in his feelings (xvi.), and the dream-like strangeness described in xin. 13-20. AT [Bradley]
- Stanza 5, line 1 ' silver sleep ': cf. Epilogue, 116. [Bradley]
- Stanza 5, line 4 Cf. Byron, Bride of Abydos, u. xxvi.: 4 His head heaves with the heaving billow ' (G. A. C.). [Bradley]
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