Dedicated to the Zodiac Club
Who knows how many thousand years agoThe twelvefold Zodiac was made to showThe course of stars above and men below?
The great sun plows his furrow by its "lines":From all its "houses" mystic meaning shines:Deep lore of life is written in its "signs."
Aries--Sacrifice.Snow-white and sacred is the sacrificeThat Heaven demands for what our heart doth prize:The man who fears to suffer, ne'er can rise.
Taurus--Strength.Rejoice, my friend, if God has made you strong:Put forth your force to move the world along:Yet never shame your strength to do a wrong.
Gemini--Brotherhood.Bitter his life who lives for self alone,Poor would he be with riches and a throne:But friendship doubles all we are and own.
Cancer--The Wisdom of Retreat.Learn from the crab, O runner fresh and fleet,Sideways to move, or backward, when discreet;Life is not all advance,--sometimes retreat!
Leo--Fire.The sign of Leo is the sign of fire.Hatred we hate: but no man should desireA heart too cold to flame with righteous ire.
Virgo--Love.Mysterious symbol, words are all in vainTo tell the secret power by which you reign.The more we love, the less we can explain.
Libra--Justice.Examine well the scales with which you weigh;Let justice rule your conduct every day;For when you face the Judge you'll need fair play.
Scorpio--Self-Defense.There's not a creature in the realm of nightBut has the wish to live, likewise the right:Don't tread upon the scorpion, or he'll fight.
Sagittarius--The Archer.Life is an arrow, therefore you must knowWhat mark to aim at, how to use the bow,--Then draw it to the head and let it go!
Capricornus--The Goat.The goat looks solemn, yet he likes to run,And leap the rocks, and gambol in the sun:The truly wise enjoy a little fun.
Aquarius--Water."Like water spilt upon the ground,"--alas,Our little lives flow swiftly on and pass;Yet may they bring rich harvests and green grass!
Pisces--The Fishes.Last of the sacred signs, you bring to meA word of hope, a word of mystery,--We all are swimmers in God's mighty sea.
Words in this poem
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dedicated to the Zodiac Club is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, Dedicated to the Zodiac Club, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/dedicated-to-the-zodiac-club.html, id L22900.
Form and metre
Dedicated to the Zodiac Club is 54 lines in 14 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AAA agoA · showA · belowA
- 2 AAA linesA · shinesA · signsA
- 3 AABB sacrificeA · sacrificeA · prizeB · riseB
- 4 -AAA strength · strongA · alongA · wrongA
- 5 -AAA brotherhood · aloneA · throneA · ownA
- 6 AAAA retreatA · fleetA · discreetA · retreatA
- 7 AAA- fireA · fireA · desireA · ire
- 8 -AAA love · vainA · reignA · explainA
- 9 -AAA justice · weighA · dayA · playA
- 10 -AAA defense · nightA · rightA · fightA
- 11 -AAA archer · knowA · bowA · goA
- 12 -AAA goat · runA · sunA · funA
- 13 -AAA water · alasA · passA · grassA
- 14 -A-A fishes · meA · mystery · seaA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who knows how many thousand years ago | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The twelvefold Zodiac was made to show | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The course of stars above and men below? | 10 | ·········· |
| The great sun plows his furrow by its "lines": | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| From all its "houses" mystic meaning shines: | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Deep lore of life is written in its "signs." | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Aries--Sacrifice. | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Snow-white and sacred is the sacrifice | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That Heaven demands for what our heart doth prize: | 10 | ·/˘/··/··· |
| The man who fears to suffer, ne'er can rise. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Taurus--Strength. | 3 | /˘· |
| Rejoice, my friend, if God has made you strong: | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Put forth your force to move the world along: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Yet never shame your strength to do a wrong. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Gemini--Brotherhood. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Bitter his life who lives for self alone, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Poor would he be with riches and a throne: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But friendship doubles all we are and own. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Cancer--The Wisdom of Retreat. | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Learn from the crab, O runner fresh and fleet, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sideways to move, or backward, when discreet; | 10 | /····/˘·˘/ |
| Life is not all advance,--sometimes retreat! | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘/ |
| Leo--Fire. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| The sign of Leo is the sign of fire. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Hatred we hate: but no man should desire | 11 | /˘······˘/˘ |
| A heart too cold to flame with righteous ire. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Virgo--Love. | 3 | /˘· |
| Mysterious symbol, words are all in vain | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| To tell the secret power by which you reign. | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| The more we love, the less we can explain. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Libra--Justice. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Examine well the scales with which you weigh; | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Let justice rule your conduct every day; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For when you face the Judge you'll need fair play. | 10 | ·········· |
| Scorpio--Self-Defense. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| There's not a creature in the realm of night | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But has the wish to live, likewise the right: | 10 | ······/··· |
| Don't tread upon the scorpion, or he'll fight. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sagittarius--The Archer. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Life is an arrow, therefore you must know | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| What mark to aim at, how to use the bow,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Then draw it to the head and let it go! | 10 | ·········· |
| Capricornus--The Goat. | 6 | ······ |
| The goat looks solemn, yet he likes to run, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And leap the rocks, and gambol in the sun: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The truly wise enjoy a little fun. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Aquarius--Water. | 6 | ˘/˘˘/˘ |
| "Like water spilt upon the ground,"--alas, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Our little lives flow swiftly on and pass; | 10 | //˘··/˘··· |
| Yet may they bring rich harvests and green grass! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Pisces--The Fishes. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Last of the sacred signs, you bring to me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A word of hope, a word of mystery,-- | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| We all are swimmers in God's mighty sea. | 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.