On Receiving from Him a Copy of "The Life of Shelley"
First, ere I slake my hunger, let me thankThe giver of the feast. For feast it is,Though of ethereal, translunary fare--His story who pre-eminently of menSeemed nourished upon starbeams and the stuffOf rainbows, and the tempest, and the foam;Who hardly brooked on his impatient soulThe fleshly trammels; whom at last the seaGave to the fire, from whose wild arms the windsTook him, and shook him broadcast to the world.In my young days of fervid poesyHe drew me to him with his strange far light,--He held me in a world all clouds and gleams,And vasty phantoms, where ev'n Man himselfMoved like a phantom 'mid the clouds and gleams.Anon the Earth recalled me, and a voiceMurmuring of dethroned divinitiesAnd dead times deathless upon sculptured urn--And Philomela's long-descended painFlooding the night--and maidens of romanceTo whom asleep St. Agnes' love-dreams come--Awhile constrained me to a sweet duresseAnd thraldom, lapping me in high content,Soft as the bondage of white amorous arms.And then a third voice, long unheeded--heldClaustral and cold, and dissonant and tame--Found me at last with ears to hear. It sangOf lowly sorrows and familiar joys,Of simple manhood, artless womanhood,And childhood fragrant as the limpid morn;And from the homely matter nigh at handAscending and dilating, it disclosedSpaces and avenues, calm heights and breadthsOf vision, whence I saw each blade of grassWith roots that groped about eternity,And in each drop of dew upon each bladeThe mirror of the inseparable All.The first voice, then the second, in their turnsHad sung me captive. This voice sang me free.Therefore, above all vocal sons of men,Since him whose sightless eyes saw hell and heaven,To Wordsworth be my homage, thanks, and love.Yet dear is Keats, a lucid presence, greatWith somewhat of a glorious soullessness.And dear, and great with an excess of soul,Shelley, the hectic flamelike rose of verse,All colour, and all odour, and all bloom,Steeped in the noonlight, glutted with the sun,But somewhat lacking root in homely earth,Lacking such human moisture as bedewsHis not less starward stem of song, who, raptNot less in glowing vision, yet retainedHis clasp of the prehensible, retainedThe warm touch of the world that lies to hand,Not in vague dreams of man forgetting men,Nor in vast morrows losing the to-day;Who trusted nature, trusted fate, nor foundAn Ogre, sovereign on the throne of things;Who felt the incumbence of the unknown, yet boreWithout resentment the Divine reserve;Who suffered not his spirit to dash itselfAgainst the crags and wavelike break in spray,But 'midst the infinite tranquillitiesMoved tranquil, and henceforth, by Rotha streamAnd Rydal's mountain-mirror, and where flowsYarrow thrice sung or Duddon to the sea,And wheresoe'er man's heart is thrilled by tonesStruck from man's lyric heartstrings, shall survive.
Words in this poem 25
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- translunary a.
- Being or lying beyond the moon; hence, ethereal; -- opposed to sublunary. [Pref. trans- + L. luna moon.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- broadcast n.
- A casting or throwing seed in all directions, as from the hand in sowing.
- fervid a.
- Very hot; burning; boiling. [L. fervidus, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- flooding n.
- The filling or covering with water or other fluid; overflow; inundation; the filling anything to excess.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- thraldom n.
- The condition of a thrall; slavery; bondage; state of servitude. [Icel. . See Thrall, and -dom.]
- claustral a.
- Cloistral. Ayliffe [F., fr. LL. claustralis, fr. L. claustrum. See Cloister.]
- dissonant a.
- Sounding harshly; discordant; unharmonious. [L. dissonans, -antis, p. pr. of dissonare to disagree in sound, be discordant; dis- + sonare to sound: cf. F. dissonant. See Sonant.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- 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.]
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- sightless a.
- Wanting sight; without sight; blind.
- 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.]
- hectic a.
- Habitual; constitutional; pertaining especially to slow waste of animal tissue, as in consumption; as, a hectic type in disease; a hectic flush. [F. hectique, Gr. sah to overpower, endure; cf. AS. sige, sigor, victory, G. sieg, Goth. sigis. Cf. Scheme.]
- odour n.
- Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume. [OE. odor, odour, OF. odor, odour, F. odeur, fr. L. odor; akin to olere to smell, Gr. Olfactory, Osmium, Ozone, Redolent.]
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- yarrow n.
- An American and European composite plant (Achillea Millefolium) with very finely dissected leaves and small white corymbed flowers. [OE. yarowe, yarwe, ýarowe, AS. gearwe; akin to D. gerw, OHG. garwa, garawa, G. garbe, schafgarbe, and perhaps to E. yare.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Receiving from Him a Copy of "The Life of Shelley" 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, On Receiving from Him a Copy of "The Life of Shelley", in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/on-receiving-from-him-a-copy-of-the-life-of-shelley.html, id L11285.
Form and metre
On Receiving from Him a Copy of "The Life of Shelley" is 68 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 48% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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 ---------------------------------------AA--------------------------- thank · is · fare · men · stuff · foam · soul · sea · winds · world · poesy · light · gleams · himself · gleams · voice · divinities · urn · pain · romance · come · duresse · content · arms · held · tame · sang · joys · womanhood · morn · hand · disclosed · breadths · grass · eternity · blade · all · turns · free · menA · heavenA · love · great · soullessness · soul · verse · bloom · sun · earth · bedews · rapt · retained · retained · hand · men · day · found · things · bore · reserve · itself · spray · tranquillities · stream · flows · sea · tones · survive
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 |
|---|---|---|
| First, ere I slake my hunger, let me thank | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The giver of the feast. For feast it is, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Though of ethereal, translunary fare-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘· |
| His story who pre-eminently of men | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Seemed nourished upon starbeams and the stuff | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of rainbows, and the tempest, and the foam; | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| Who hardly brooked on his impatient soul | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| The fleshly trammels; whom at last the sea | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Gave to the fire, from whose wild arms the winds | 10 | ···/······ |
| Took him, and shook him broadcast to the world. | 10 | ·····/···· |
| In my young days of fervid poesy | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| He drew me to him with his strange far light,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| He held me in a world all clouds and gleams, | 10 | ·········· |
| And vasty phantoms, where ev'n Man himself | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Moved like a phantom 'mid the clouds and gleams. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Anon the Earth recalled me, and a voice | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| Murmuring of dethroned divinities | 10 | /˘˘·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| And dead times deathless upon sculptured urn-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And Philomela's long-descended pain | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Flooding the night--and maidens of romance | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| To whom asleep St. Agnes' love-dreams come-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Awhile constrained me to a sweet duresse | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| And thraldom, lapping me in high content, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Soft as the bondage of white amorous arms. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And then a third voice, long unheeded--held | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Claustral and cold, and dissonant and tame-- | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| Found me at last with ears to hear. It sang | 10 | ·········· |
| Of lowly sorrows and familiar joys, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Of simple manhood, artless womanhood, | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And childhood fragrant as the limpid morn; | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| And from the homely matter nigh at hand | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Ascending and dilating, it disclosed | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Spaces and avenues, calm heights and breadths | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Of vision, whence I saw each blade of grass | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| With roots that groped about eternity, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And in each drop of dew upon each blade | 10 | ·········· |
| The mirror of the inseparable All. | 10 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘· |
| The first voice, then the second, in their turns | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Had sung me captive. This voice sang me free. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Therefore, above all vocal sons of men, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Since him whose sightless eyes saw hell and heaven, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| To Wordsworth be my homage, thanks, and love. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Yet dear is Keats, a lucid presence, great | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| With somewhat of a glorious soullessness. | 10 | ·//··/˘··· |
| And dear, and great with an excess of soul, | 10 | ······/··· |
| Shelley, the hectic flamelike rose of verse, | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| All colour, and all odour, and all bloom, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Steeped in the noonlight, glutted with the sun, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But somewhat lacking root in homely earth, | 10 | ·///˘··/˘· |
| Lacking such human moisture as bedews | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| His not less starward stem of song, who, rapt | 10 | ·········· |
| Not less in glowing vision, yet retained | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| His clasp of the prehensible, retained | 10 | ····˘/˘˘/˘ |
| The warm touch of the world that lies to hand, | 10 | ·········· |
| Not in vague dreams of man forgetting men, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Nor in vast morrows losing the to-day; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Who trusted nature, trusted fate, nor found | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| An Ogre, sovereign on the throne of things; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Who felt the incumbence of the unknown, yet bore | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| Without resentment the Divine reserve; | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Who suffered not his spirit to dash itself | 10 | ·/˘··/··˘/ |
| Against the crags and wavelike break in spray, | 11 | ··········· |
| But 'midst the infinite tranquillities | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Moved tranquil, and henceforth, by Rotha stream | 10 | ·/˘·//···· |
| And Rydal's mountain-mirror, and where flows | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Yarrow thrice sung or Duddon to the sea, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And wheresoe'er man's heart is thrilled by tones | 10 | ·········· |
| Struck from man's lyric heartstrings, shall survive. | 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.