Nightmare
In a false dream I saw the Foe prevail.The war was ended; the last smoke had rolledAway: and we, erewhile the strong and bold,Stood broken, humbled, withered, weak and pale,And moan'd, "Our greatness is become a taleTo tell our children's babes when we are old.They shall put by their playthings to be toldHow England once, before the years of bale,Throned above trembling, puissant, grandiose, calm,Held Asia's richest jewel in her palm;And with unnumbered isles barbaric, sheThe broad hem of her glistering robe impearl'd;Then, when she wound her arms about the world,And had for vassal the obsequious sea."
Words in this poem
- erewhile adv.
- Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
- 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,]
- puissant a.
- Powerful; strong; mighty; forcible; as, a puissant prince or empire. [F., originally, a p. pr. formed fr. L. posse to be able: cf. L. potens powerful. See Potent.]
- grandiose a.
- Impressive or elevating in effect; vimposing; splendid; striking; -- in a good sense. [F. grandiose, It. grandioso. See Grand.]
- unnumbered a.
- Not numbered; not counted or estimated; innumerable.
- barbaric a.
- Of, or from, barbarian nations; foreign; -- often with reference to barbarous nations of east. [L. barbaricus foreign, barbaric, Gr. .]
- obsequious a.
- Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another; compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted. [L.obsequiosus, fr. obsequium compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obséquieux, See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nightmare 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, Nightmare, in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/nightmare.html, id L11298.
Form and metre
Nightmare is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBAABBACCDEED prevailA · rolledB · boldB · paleA · taleA · oldB · toldB · baleA · calmC · palmC · sheD · impearl'dE · worldE · seaD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In a false dream I saw the Foe prevail. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The war was ended; the last smoke had rolled | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Away: and we, erewhile the strong and bold, | 12 | ˘/·········· |
| Stood broken, humbled, withered, weak and pale, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And moan'd, "Our greatness is become a tale | 10 | ··//˘·˘/·· |
| To tell our children's babes when we are old. | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| They shall put by their playthings to be told | 10 | ·····/···· |
| How England once, before the years of bale, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Throned above trembling, puissant, grandiose, calm, | 12 | ···/˘/˘˘·˘/· |
| Held Asia's richest jewel in her palm; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And with unnumbered isles barbaric, she | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The broad hem of her glistering robe impearl'd; | 11 | ··········· |
| Then, when she wound her arms about the world, | 10 | ·········· |
| And had for vassal the obsequious 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.