An Autumn Sunset II
Lagooned in gold,Seem not those jetty promontories ratherThe outposts of some ancient land forlorn,Uncomforted of morn,Where old oblivions gather,The melancholy unconsoling foldOf all things that go utterly to deathAnd mix no more, no moreWith life's perpetually awakening breath?Shall Time not ferry me to such a shore,Over such sailless seas,To walk with hope's slain importunitiesIn miserable marriage? Nay, shall notAll things be there forgot,Save the sea's golden barrier and the blackClose-crouching promontories?Dead to all shames, forgotten of all glories,Shall I not wander there, a shadow's shade,A spectre self-destroyed,So purged of all remembrance and sucked backInto the primal void,That should we on that shore phantasmal meetI should not know the coming of your feet?
Words in this poem
- jetty v. i.
- To jut out; to project. Florio.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- 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.]
- perpetually adv.
- In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually.
- 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,]
- sailless a.
- Destitute of sails. Pollok.
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- primal a.
- First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
- phantasmal a.
- Pertaining to, of the nature of, or resembling, a phantasm; spectral; illusive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Autumn Sunset II 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 II, in Artemis to Actaeon, and Other Verse (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wharton-artemis/an-autumn-sunset-ii.html, id L22240.
Form and metre
An Autumn Sunset II is 23 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ABCCBADEDE-FGGHFF-IHIJJ goldA · ratherB · forlornC · mornC · gatherB · foldA · deathD · moreE · breathD · shoreE · seas · importunitiesF · notG · forgotG · blackH · promontoriesF · gloriesF · shade · destroyedI · backH · voidI · meetJ · feetJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lagooned in gold, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Seem not those jetty promontories rather | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| The outposts of some ancient land forlorn, | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| Uncomforted of morn, | 6 | ······ |
| Where old oblivions gather, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| The melancholy unconsoling fold | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| Of all things that go utterly to death | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| And mix no more, no more | 6 | ······ |
| With life's perpetually awakening breath? | 10 | ··˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Shall Time not ferry me to such a shore, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Over such sailless seas, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To walk with hope's slain importunities | 9 | ········· |
| In miserable marriage? Nay, shall not | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘··· |
| All things be there forgot, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Save the sea's golden barrier and the black | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Close-crouching promontories? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Dead to all shames, forgotten of all glories, | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| Shall I not wander there, a shadow's shade, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| A spectre self-destroyed, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| So purged of all remembrance and sucked back | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Into the primal void, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That should we on that shore phantasmal meet | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| I should not know the coming of your feet? | 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.