An Autumn Sunset I
LEAGUERED in fireThe wild black promontories of the coast extendTheir savage silhouettes;The sun in universal carnage sets,And, halting higher,The motionless storm-clouds mass their sullen threats,Like an advancing mob in sword-points penned,That, balked, yet stands at bay.Mid-zenith hangs the fascinated dayIn wind-lustrated hollows crystalline,A wan Valkyrie whose wide pinions shineAcross the ensanguined ruins of the fray,And in her hand swings high o'erhead,Above the waste of war,The silver torch-light of the evening starWherewith to search the faces of the dead.
Words in this poem
- carnage n.
- Flesh of slain animals or men. [F. carnage, LL. carnaticum tribute of animals, flesh of animals, fr. L. caro, carnis, flesh. See Carnal.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- penned a.
- Winged; having plumes.
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Autumn Sunset I is in the public domain. This text is taken from Artemis to Actaeon, and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #4549; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edith Wharton, An Autumn Sunset I, in Artemis to Actaeon, and Other Verse (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wharton-artemis/an-autumn-sunset-i.html, id L22239.
Form and metre
An Autumn Sunset I is 16 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABCCACBDDEEDF--F fireA · extendB · silhouettesC · setsC · higherA · threatsC · pennedB · bayD · dayD · crystallineE · shineE · frayD · o'erheadF · war · star · deadF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LEAGUERED in fire | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| The wild black promontories of the coast extend | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Their savage silhouettes; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The sun in universal carnage sets, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| And, halting higher, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| The motionless storm-clouds mass their sullen threats, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Like an advancing mob in sword-points penned, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| That, balked, yet stands at bay. | 6 | ······ |
| Mid-zenith hangs the fascinated day | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘· |
| In wind-lustrated hollows crystalline, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| A wan Valkyrie whose wide pinions shine | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Across the ensanguined ruins of the fray, | 11 | ˘/····/˘··· |
| And in her hand swings high o'erhead, | 8 | ········ |
| Above the waste of war, | 6 | ······ |
| The silver torch-light of the evening star | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Wherewith to search the faces of the dead. | 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.