Aspiration
Unto the spring of purest lifeAspires my withered heart,My soul confined in this fleshEmploys both strength and artWorking, struggling, suing stillFrom exile home to part.
Who can utter the full joyWhich that high place doth hold,Where all the buildings founded areOn orient pearls untold,And all the work of those high roomsDoth shine with beams of gold!
The season is not changed, but stillBoth sun and moon are Bright,The Lamb of this fair city isThat clear immortal LightWhose presence makes eternal dayWhich never ends in night.
Nay all the Saints themselves shall shineAs bright as brightest sun,In fullest Triumph crowned theyTo mutual joys shall run,And safely count their fights and foesWhen once the war is done.
For being freed from all defectThey feel no fleshly war,Or rather both the flesh and mindAt length united are,For joying in so rich a peaceThey can admit no jar.
For ever cheerful and contentThey from mishaps are free;No sickness there can threaten health,Nor young men old can be:There they enjoy such happy stateThat in't no change they see.
Who know the Knower of all thingsWhat can they choose but know?They all behold each other's heartsAnd all their secrets shew:One act of will and of not willFrom all their minds do flow.
Though all their merits diverse beAccording to their pains,Yet Love doth make that every one'sWhich any other gains,And all which doth belong to oneTo all of them pertains.
O Happy Soul which shall beholdThy King still present there,And mayst from thence behold the worldRun round, secure from fear,With stars and planets, moon and sun,Still moving in their sphere!
O King of Kings give me such strengthIn this great War depending,That I may here prevail at length,And ever be ascending,Till I at last arrive to Thee,The Source of all Felicity!
Come, Holy Ghost, Eternal God,Our hearts with Life inspire,Enkindle zeal in all our Souls,And fill us with Thy Heavenly fire.
Send forth Thy Beams and let Thy GraceUpon my spirit shine,That I may all Thy works enjoy,Revive, sing praises, be Divine.
Words in this poem
- suing n.
- The process of soaking through anything. [Cf. F. suer to sweat, L. sudare.]
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- 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,]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- enkindle v. t.
- To set on fire; to inflame; to kindle.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Aspiration is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, 1636?-1674, from the original manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #61586; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Traherne, Aspiration, in Poetical Works (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #61586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/traherne-poems/aspiration.html, id L13330.
Form and metre
Aspiration is 68 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 -A-A-A life · heartA · flesh · artA · still · partA
- 2 -A-A-A joy · holdA · are · untoldA · rooms · goldA
- 3 -A-A-A still · brightA · is · lightA · day · nightA
- 4 -A-A-A shine · sunA · they · runA · foes · doneA
- 5 ---A-A defect · war · mind · areA · peace · jarA
- 6 -A-A-A content · freeA · health · beA · state · seeA
- 7 -A---A things · knowA · hearts · shew · will · flowA
- 8 -A-A-A be · painsA · one's · gainsA · one · pertainsA
- 9 -A-A-A behold · thereA · world · fearA · sun · sphereA
- 10 ABAB-- strengthA · dependingB · lengthA · ascendingB · thee · felicity
- 11 -A-A god · inspireA · souls · fireA
- 12 -A-A grace · shineA · enjoy · divineA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Unto the spring of purest life | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Aspires my withered heart, | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| My soul confined in this flesh | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Employs both strength and art | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Working, struggling, suing still | 8 | /˘/˘˘/˘· |
| From exile home to part. | 6 | ·/···· |
| Who can utter the full joy | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Which that high place doth hold, | 6 | ······ |
| Where all the buildings founded are | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| On orient pearls untold, | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| And all the work of those high rooms | 8 | ········ |
| Doth shine with beams of gold! | 6 | ······ |
| The season is not changed, but still | 9 | ·/˘···˘·· |
| Both sun and moon are Bright, | 6 | ······ |
| The Lamb of this fair city is | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That clear immortal Light | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Whose presence makes eternal day | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Which never ends in night. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nay all the Saints themselves shall shine | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| As bright as brightest sun, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In fullest Triumph crowned they | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| To mutual joys shall run, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And safely count their fights and foes | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When once the war is done. | 6 | ······ |
| For being freed from all defect | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| They feel no fleshly war, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or rather both the flesh and mind | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At length united are, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| For joying in so rich a peace | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They can admit no jar. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| For ever cheerful and content | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| They from mishaps are free; | 6 | ··/··· |
| No sickness there can threaten health, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor young men old can be: | 6 | ······ |
| There they enjoy such happy state | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That in't no change they see. | 6 | ······ |
| Who know the Knower of all things | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What can they choose but know? | 6 | ······ |
| They all behold each other's hearts | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And all their secrets shew: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| One act of will and of not will | 8 | ········ |
| From all their minds do flow. | 6 | ······ |
| Though all their merits diverse be | 8 | ···/˘˘/· |
| According to their pains, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Yet Love doth make that every one's | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Which any other gains, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And all which doth belong to one | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To all of them pertains. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| O Happy Soul which shall behold | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Thy King still present there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And mayst from thence behold the world | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Run round, secure from fear, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| With stars and planets, moon and sun, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still moving in their sphere! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O King of Kings give me such strength | 8 | ········ |
| In this great War depending, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| That I may here prevail at length, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And ever be ascending, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Till I at last arrive to Thee, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The Source of all Felicity! | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Come, Holy Ghost, Eternal God, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Our hearts with Life inspire, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Enkindle zeal in all our Souls, | 9 | ˘/˘···/˘· |
| And fill us with Thy Heavenly fire. | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| Send forth Thy Beams and let Thy Grace | 8 | ········ |
| Upon my spirit shine, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That I may all Thy works enjoy, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Revive, sing praises, be Divine. | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
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.