A Riddle Song
That which eludes this verse and any verse,Unheard by sharpest ear, unform’d in clearest eye or cunningest mind,Nor lore nor fame, nor happiness nor wealth,And yet the pulse of every heart and life throughout the world incessantly,Which you and I and all pursuing ever ever miss,Open but still a secret, the real of the real, an illusion,Costless, vouchsafed to each, yet never man the owner,Which poets vainly seek to put in rhyme, historians in prose,Which sculptor never chisel’d yet, nor painter painted,Which vocalist never sung, nor orator nor actor ever utter’d,Invoking here and now I challenge for my song.
Indifferently, ’mid public, private haunts, in solitude,Behind the mountain and the wood,Companion of the city’s busiest streets, through the assemblage,It and its radiations constantly glide.
In looks of fair unconscious babes,Or strangely in the coffin’d dead,Or show of breaking dawn or stars by night,As some dissolving delicate film of dreams,Hiding yet lingering.
Two little breaths of words comprising it,Two words, yet all from first to last comprised in it.
How ardently for it!How many ships have sail’d and sunk for it!
How many travelers started from their homes and neer return’d!How much of genius boldly staked and lost for it!What countless stores of beauty, love, ventur’d for it!How all superbest deeds since Time began are traceable to it--andshall be to the end!How all heroic martyrdoms to it!How, justified by it, the horrors, evils, battles of the earth!How the bright fascinating lambent flames of it, in every age andland, have drawn men’s eyes,Rich as a sunset on the Norway coast, the sky, the islands, and the cliffs,Or midnight’s silent glowing northern lights unreachable.
Haply God’s riddle it, so vague and yet so certain,The soul for it, and all the visible universe for it,And heaven at last for it.
Words in this poem
- unheard a.
- Not heard; not perceived by the ear; as, words unheard by those present.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- incessantly adv.
- Unceasingly; continually.
- costless a.
- Costing nothing.
- sculptor n.
- One who sculptures; one whose occupation is to carve statues, or works of sculpture. [L. sculptor, fr. sculpere, sculptum, to carve; cf. scalpere to cut, carve, scratch, and Gr. sculpteur.]
- vocalist n.
- A singer, or vocal musician, as opposed to an instrumentalist. [Cf. F. vocaliste.]
- indifferently adv.
- In an indifferent manner; without distinction or preference; impartially; without concern, wish, affection, or aversion; tolerably; passably.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- traceable a.
- Capable of being traced.
- 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,]
- lambent a.
- Playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over. [L. lambens, -enlis, p. pr. of lambere to lick; akin to lap. See Lap to drink by licking.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Riddle Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, A Riddle Song, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/a-riddle-song.html, id L04046.
Form and metre
A Riddle Song is 38 lines in 7 stanzas. 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.3 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 4 AA itA · itA
- 5 AA itA · itA
- 6 ABBAAB-A--- return'dA · itB · itB · andA · endA · itB · earth · andA · eyes · cliffs · unreachable
- 7 -AA certain · itA · itA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| That which eludes this verse and any verse, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Unheard by sharpest ear, unform’d in clearest eye or cunningest mind, | 17 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Nor lore nor fame, nor happiness nor wealth, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| And yet the pulse of every heart and life throughout the world incessantly, | 19 | ·····/˘˘·······˘/˘˘ |
| Which you and I and all pursuing ever ever miss, | 14 | ······˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Open but still a secret, the real of the real, an illusion, | 16 | /˘···/˘······˘/˘ |
| Costless, vouchsafed to each, yet never man the owner, | 13 | /˘·····/˘··/˘ |
| Which poets vainly seek to put in rhyme, historians in prose, | 16 | ·/˘/˘·····˘/˘˘·· |
| Which sculptor never chisel’d yet, nor painter painted, | 13 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Which vocalist never sung, nor orator nor actor ever utter’d, | 18 | ·/˘˘/˘··/˘˘·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Invoking here and now I challenge for my song. | 12 | ˘/˘····/˘··· |
| Indifferently, ’mid public, private haunts, in solitude, | 15 | ˘/˘˘˘·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Behind the mountain and the wood, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Companion of the city’s busiest streets, through the assemblage, | 16 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘˘···˘/˘ |
| It and its radiations constantly glide. | 11 | ····˘/˘/˘˘· |
| In looks of fair unconscious babes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or strangely in the coffin’d dead, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or show of breaking dawn or stars by night, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As some dissolving delicate film of dreams, | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘˘··· |
| Hiding yet lingering. | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Two little breaths of words comprising it, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Two words, yet all from first to last comprised in it. | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| How ardently for it! | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| How many ships have sail’d and sunk for it! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| How many travelers started from their homes and neer return’d! | 15 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘·····˘/ |
| How much of genius boldly staked and lost for it! | 12 | ···/˘/˘····· |
| What countless stores of beauty, love, ventur’d for it! | 12 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| How all superbest deeds since Time began are traceable to it--and | 17 | ··˘/˘···˘/·/˘˘··· |
| shall be to the end! | 5 | ····· |
| How all heroic martyrdoms to it! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| How, justified by it, the horrors, evils, battles of the earth! | 16 | ·/˘····/˘/˘/˘··· |
| How the bright fascinating lambent flames of it, in every age and | 18 | ···/˘·˘/˘····/˘˘·· |
| land, have drawn men’s eyes, | 5 | ····· |
| Rich as a sunset on the Norway coast, the sky, the islands, and the cliffs, | 18 | ···/···/·····/˘··· |
| Or midnight’s silent glowing northern lights unreachable. | 14 | ·/·/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Haply God’s riddle it, so vague and yet so certain, | 13 | /˘·/˘······/˘ |
| The soul for it, and all the visible universe for it, | 15 | ·······/˘˘/˘··· |
| And heaven at last for it. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.