Skyfaring
Drifting through vacant spaces vast of sleep,One overtook me like a flying starAnd whirled me onward in his glistering car.From shade to shade the wingèd steeds did leap,And clomb the midnight like a mountain-steep;Till that vague world where men and women are,Ev'n as a rushlight down the gulfs afar,Paled and went out, upswallowed of the deep.
Then I to that ethereal charioteer:"O whither through the vastness are we bound?O bear me back to yonder blinded sphere!"Therewith I heard the ends of night resound;And, wakened by ten thousand echoes, foundThat far-off planet lying all-too near.
Words in this poem
- rushlight n.
- A rush candle, or its light; hence, a small, feeble light.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- charioteer n.
- One who drives a chariot.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- therewith adv.
- With that or this.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Skyfaring 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, Skyfaring, in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/skyfaring.html, id L11375.
Form and metre
Skyfaring is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABBAABBA sleepA · starB · carB · leapA · steepA · areB · afarB · deepA
- 2 ABABBA charioteerA · boundB · sphereA · resoundB · foundB · nearA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drifting through vacant spaces vast of sleep, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| One overtook me like a flying star | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| And whirled me onward in his glistering car. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| From shade to shade the wingèd steeds did leap, | 9 | ········· |
| And clomb the midnight like a mountain-steep; | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Till that vague world where men and women are, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ev'n as a rushlight down the gulfs afar, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Paled and went out, upswallowed of the deep. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then I to that ethereal charioteer: | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| "O whither through the vastness are we bound? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| O bear me back to yonder blinded sphere!" | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Therewith I heard the ends of night resound; | 10 | ˘/·······/ |
| And, wakened by ten thousand echoes, found | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| That far-off planet lying all-too near. | 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.