The Old Pole Star
BEFORE the clepsydra had bound the daysMan tethered Change to his fixed star, and said:"The elder races, that long since are dead,Marched by that light; it swerves not from its baseThough all the worlds about it wax and fade."
When Egypt saw it, fast in reeling spheres,Her Pyramids shaft-centred on its rayShe reared and said: "Long as this star holds swayIn uninvaded ether, shall the yearsRevere my monuments--" and went her way.
The Pyramids abide; but through the shaftThat held the polar pivot, eye to eye,Look now--blank nothingness! As though Change laughedAt man's presumption and his puny craft,The star has slipped its leash and roams the sky.
Yet could the immemorial piles be swungA skyey hair's-breadth from their rooted base,Back to the central anchorage of space,Ah, then again, as when the race was young,Should they behold the beacon of the race!
Of old, men said: "The Truth is there: we rearOur faith full-centred on it. It was knownThus of the elders who foreran us here,Mapped out its circuit in the shifting sphere,And found it, 'mid mutation, fixed alone."
Change laughs again, again the sky is cold,And down that fissure now no star-beam glides.Yet they whose sweep of vision grows not oldStill at the central point of space beholdAnother pole-star: for the Truth abides.
Words in this poem
- clepsydra n.
- A water clock; a contrivance for measuring time by the graduated flow of a liquid, as of water, through a small aperture.
- 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,]
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- puny a.
- Imperfectly developed in size or vigor; small and feeble; inferior; petty. [F. puîté younger, later born, OF. puisné; puis afterwards (L. post; see Post-) + né born, L. natus. See Natal, and cf. Puisne.]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- immemorial a.
- Extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition; indefinitely ancient; as, existing from time immemorial. [Pref. im- not + memorial: cf. F. immémorial.]
- skyey a.
- Like the sky; ethereal; being in the sky.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old Pole Star 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, The Old Pole Star, in Artemis to Actaeon, and Other Verse (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wharton-artemis/the-old-pole-star.html, id L22244.
Form and metre
The Old Pole Star is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -AA-- days · saidA · deadA · base · fade
- 2 ABBAB spheresA · rayB · swayB · yearsA · wayB
- 3 ABAAB shaftA · eyeB · laughedA · craftA · skyB
- 4 ABBAB swungA · baseB · spaceB · youngA · raceB
- 5 ABAAB rearA · knownB · hereA · sphereA · aloneB
- 6 ABAAB coldA · glidesB · oldA · beholdA · abidesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BEFORE the clepsydra had bound the days | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Man tethered Change to his fixed star, and said: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| "The elder races, that long since are dead, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Marched by that light; it swerves not from its base | 10 | ·········· |
| Though all the worlds about it wax and fade." | 10 | ·········· |
| When Egypt saw it, fast in reeling spheres, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Her Pyramids shaft-centred on its ray | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| She reared and said: "Long as this star holds sway | 10 | ·········· |
| In uninvaded ether, shall the years | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Revere my monuments--" and went her way. | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘···· |
| The Pyramids abide; but through the shaft | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| That held the polar pivot, eye to eye, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Look now--blank nothingness! As though Change laughed | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| At man's presumption and his puny craft, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The star has slipped its leash and roams the sky. | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet could the immemorial piles be swung | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| A skyey hair's-breadth from their rooted base, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Back to the central anchorage of space, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Ah, then again, as when the race was young, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Should they behold the beacon of the race! | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Of old, men said: "The Truth is there: we rear | 10 | ·········· |
| Our faith full-centred on it. It was known | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| Thus of the elders who foreran us here, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Mapped out its circuit in the shifting sphere, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And found it, 'mid mutation, fixed alone." | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Change laughs again, again the sky is cold, | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| And down that fissure now no star-beam glides. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yet they whose sweep of vision grows not old | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Still at the central point of space behold | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Another pole-star: for the Truth abides. | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
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