England My Mother IV
So let the songsmithProffer his rhyme-gift,England my mother,Maker of men.
Gray grows thy count'nance,Full of the ages;Time on thy foreheadSits like a dream:
Song is the potionAll things renewing,Youth's one elixir,Fountain of morn.
Thou, at the world-loomWeaving thy future,Fitly may'st temperToil with delight.
Deemest thou, labourOnly is earnest?Grave is all beauty,Solemn is joy.
Song is no bauble--Slight not the songsmith,England my mother,Maker of men.
Words in this poem
- elixir n.
- A tincture with more than one base; a compound tincture or medicine, composed of various substances, held in solution by alcohol in some form. [F. élixir, Sp. elixir, Ar. eliksir the philosopher's stone, prob. from Gr. ksha to burn.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- bauble n.
- A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything. [Cf. OF. baubel a child's plaything, F. babiole, It. babbola, LL. baubellum gem, jewel, L. babulus,a baburrus, foolish.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
England My Mother IV is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of William Watson, Project Gutenberg ebook #13179; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Watson, England My Mother IV, in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/england-my-mother-iv.html, id L11344.
Form and metre
England My Mother IV is 24 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is dactylic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.8 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in dactylic dimeter.
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.
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 dactylic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| So let the songsmith | 5 | ····· |
| Proffer his rhyme-gift, | 5 | /˘··· |
| England my mother, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Maker of men. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Gray grows thy count'nance, | 5 | ····· |
| Full of the ages; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Time on thy forehead | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Sits like a dream: | 4 | ···· |
| Song is the potion | 5 | ···/˘ |
| All things renewing, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Youth's one elixir, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Fountain of morn. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Thou, at the world-loom | 5 | ····· |
| Weaving thy future, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Fitly may'st temper | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Toil with delight. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Deemest thou, labour | 5 | /˘·/· |
| Only is earnest? | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Grave is all beauty, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Solemn is joy. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Song is no bauble-- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Slight not the songsmith, | 5 | ····· |
| England my mother, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Maker of men. | 4 | /˘·· |
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.