The Salutation
These little limbs,These eyes and hands which here I find,These rosy cheeks wherewith my life begins,Where have ye been? behindWhat curtain were ye from me hid so long,Where was, in what abyss, my speaking tongue?
When silent ISo many thousand, thousand yearsBeneath the dust did in a chaos lie,How could I smiles or tears,Or lips or hands or eyes or ears perceive?Welcome ye treasures which I now receive.
I that so longWas nothing from eternity,Did little think such joys as ear or tongueTo celebrate or see:Such sounds to hear, such hands to feel, such feet,Beneath the skies on such a ground to meet.
New burnisht joys!Which yellow gold and pearls excel!Such sacred treasures are the limbs in boys,In which a soul doth dwell;Their organised joints and azure veinsMore wealth include than all the world contains.
From dust I rise,And out of nothing now awake,These brighter regions which salute mine eyes,A gift from God I take.The earth, the seas, the light, the day, the skies,The sun and stars are mine; if those I prize.
Long time beforeI in my mother's womb was born,A God preparing did this glorious store,The world for me adorn.Into this Eden so divine and fair,So wide and bright, I come His son and heir.
A stranger hereStrange things doth meet, strange glories see;Strange treasures lodg'd in this fair world appear,Strange all and new to me;But that they mine should be, who nothing was,That strangest is of all, yet brought to pass.
Words in this poem
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
- 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]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- 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.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Salutation 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, The Salutation, in Poetical Works (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #61586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/traherne-poems/the-salutation.html, id L13293.
Form and metre
The Salutation is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 3 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 -A-A-- limbs · findA · begins · behindA · long · tongue
- 2 ABABCC iA · yearsB · lieA · tearsB · perceiveC · receiveC
- 3 ----AA long · eternity · tongue · see · feetA · meetA
- 4 ABABCC joysA · excelB · boysA · dwellB · veinsC · containsC
- 5 ABABAA riseA · awakeB · eyesA · takeB · skiesA · prizeA
- 6 ABABCC beforeA · bornB · storeA · adornB · fairC · heirC
- 7 ABAB-- hereA · seeB · appearA · meB · was · pass
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 |
|---|---|---|
| These little limbs, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| These eyes and hands which here I find, | 8 | ········ |
| These rosy cheeks wherewith my life begins, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Where have ye been? behind | 6 | ······ |
| What curtain were ye from me hid so long, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Where was, in what abyss, my speaking tongue? | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| When silent I | 4 | ·/˘· |
| So many thousand, thousand years | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Beneath the dust did in a chaos lie, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| How could I smiles or tears, | 6 | ······ |
| Or lips or hands or eyes or ears perceive? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Welcome ye treasures which I now receive. | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| I that so long | 4 | ···· |
| Was nothing from eternity, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Did little think such joys as ear or tongue | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To celebrate or see: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Such sounds to hear, such hands to feel, such feet, | 10 | ·········· |
| Beneath the skies on such a ground to meet. | 10 | ·········· |
| New burnisht joys! | 4 | ···· |
| Which yellow gold and pearls excel! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Such sacred treasures are the limbs in boys, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In which a soul doth dwell; | 6 | ······ |
| Their organised joints and azure veins | 10 | ·/˘·˘··/˘· |
| More wealth include than all the world contains. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| From dust I rise, | 4 | ···· |
| And out of nothing now awake, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| These brighter regions which salute mine eyes, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| A gift from God I take. | 6 | ······ |
| The earth, the seas, the light, the day, the skies, | 10 | ·········· |
| The sun and stars are mine; if those I prize. | 10 | ·········· |
| Long time before | 4 | ···· |
| I in my mother's womb was born, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A God preparing did this glorious store, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The world for me adorn. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Into this Eden so divine and fair, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| So wide and bright, I come His son and heir. | 10 | ·········· |
| A stranger here | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Strange things doth meet, strange glories see; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Strange treasures lodg'd in this fair world appear, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Strange all and new to me; | 6 | ······ |
| But that they mine should be, who nothing was, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That strangest is of all, yet brought to pass. | 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.