The Valley of Vain Verses
The grief that is but feigning,And weeps melodious tearsOf delicate complainingFrom self-indulgent years;The mirth that is but madness,And has no inward gladnessBeneath its laughter straining,To capture thoughtless ears;
The love that is but passionOf amber-scented lust;The doubt that is but fashion;The faith that has no trust;These Thamyris disperses,In the Valley of Vain VersesBelow the Mount Parnassian,--And they crumble into dust.
Words in this poem
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- parnassian a.
- Of or pertaining to Parnassus. [L. Parnassius.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Valley of Vain Verses 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, The Valley of Vain Verses, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-valley-of-vain-verses.html, id L22968.
Form and metre
The Valley of Vain Verses is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCCAB feigningA · tearsB · complainingA · yearsB · madnessC · gladnessC · strainingA · earsB
- 2 ABABCC-B passionA · lustB · fashionA · trustB · dispersesC · versesC · parnassian · dustB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The grief that is but feigning, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And weeps melodious tears | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Of delicate complaining | 7 | ·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| From self-indulgent years; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The mirth that is but madness, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And has no inward gladness | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Beneath its laughter straining, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To capture thoughtless ears; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The love that is but passion | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Of amber-scented lust; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The doubt that is but fashion; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The faith that has no trust; | 6 | ······ |
| These Thamyris disperses, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| In the Valley of Vain Verses | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Below the Mount Parnassian,-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And they crumble into dust. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.