The Glory
THE glory of the beauty of the morning,--The cuckoo crying over the untouched dew;The blackbird that has found it, and the doveThat tempts me on to something sweeter than love;White clouds ranged even and fair as new-mown hay;The heat, the stir, the sublime vacancyOf sky and meadow and forest and my own heart:--The glory invites me, yet it leaves me scorningAll I can ever do, all I can be,Beside the lovely of motion, shape, and hue,The happiness I fancy fit to dwellIn beauty's presence. Shall I now this dayBegin to seek as far as heaven, as hell,Wisdom or strength to match this beauty, startAnd tread the pale dust pitted with small dark drops,In hope to find whatever it is I seek,Hearkening to short-lived happy-seeming thingsThat we know naught of, in the hazel copse?Or must I be content with discontentAs larks and swallows are perhaps with wings?And shall I ask at the day's end once moreWhat beauty is, and what I can have meantBy happiness? And shall I let all go,Glad, weary, or both? Or shall I perhaps knowThat I was happy oft and oft before,Awhile forgetting how I am fast pent,How dreary-swift, with naught to travel to,Is Time? I cannot bite the day to the core.
Words in this poem
- vacancy n.
- The quality or state of being vacant; emptiness; hence, freedom from employment; intermission; leisure; idleness; listlessness. [Cf. F. vacance.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- copse n.
- A wood of small growth; a thicket of brushwood. See Coppice. [Contr. from coppice.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Glory is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22423; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edward Thomas, The Glory, in Poems (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22423, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thomas-edward-poems/the-glory.html, id L08169.
Form and metre
The Glory is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% 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 ABCCD-EA-BFDFEG-HGIHJIKKJIBJ morningA · dewB · doveC · loveC · hayD · vacancy · heartE · scorningA · be · hueB · dwellF · dayD · hellF · startE · dropsG · seek · thingsH · copseG · discontentI · wingsH · moreJ · meantI · goK · knowK · beforeJ · pentI · toB · coreJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THE glory of the beauty of the morning,-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| The cuckoo crying over the untouched dew; | 10 | ·/·/˘··˘/· |
| The blackbird that has found it, and the dove | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That tempts me on to something sweeter than love; | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| White clouds ranged even and fair as new-mown hay; | 10 | ···/······ |
| The heat, the stir, the sublime vacancy | 10 | ·····˘//˘˘ |
| Of sky and meadow and forest and my own heart:-- | 12 | ···/··/˘···· |
| The glory invites me, yet it leaves me scorning | 12 | ·/˘˘/·····/˘ |
| All I can ever do, all I can be, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Beside the lovely of motion, shape, and hue, | 11 | ˘/·/˘·/˘··· |
| The happiness I fancy fit to dwell | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| In beauty's presence. Shall I now this day | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Begin to seek as far as heaven, as hell, | 10 | ˘/·····/·· |
| Wisdom or strength to match this beauty, start | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And tread the pale dust pitted with small dark drops, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| In hope to find whatever it is I seek, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Hearkening to short-lived happy-seeming things | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| That we know naught of, in the hazel copse? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or must I be content with discontent | 10 | ····˘/·˘˘/ |
| As larks and swallows are perhaps with wings? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| And shall I ask at the day's end once more | 10 | ·········· |
| What beauty is, and what I can have meant | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By happiness? And shall I let all go, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Glad, weary, or both? Or shall I perhaps know | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/· |
| That I was happy oft and oft before, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Awhile forgetting how I am fast pent, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| How dreary-swift, with naught to travel to, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Is Time? I cannot bite the day to the core. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
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.