Perfectness
All perfect things are saddening in effect.The autumn wood robed in its scarlet clothes,The matchless tinting on the royal roseWhose velvet leaf by no least flaw is flecked,Love's supreme moment, when the soul uncheckedSoars high as heaven, and its best rapture knows--These hold a deeper pathos than our woes,Since they leave nothing better to expect.
Resistless change, when powerless to improve,Can only mar. The gold will pale to gray;Nothing remains tomorrow as to-day;The lose will not seem quite so fait, and loveMust find its measures of delight made less.Ah, how imperfect is all Perfectness!
Words in this poem
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- tomorrow adv.
- On the day after the present day; on the next day; on the morrow. [Prep. to + morrow.]
- perfectness n.
- The quality or state of being perfect; perfection.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Perfectness is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Perfectness, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/perfectness.html, id L22173.
Form and metre
Perfectness is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABB-ABBA effectA · clothesB · roseB · flecked · uncheckedA · knowsB · woesB · expectA
- 2 ABBACC improveA · grayB · dayB · loveA · lessC · perfectnessC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All perfect things are saddening in effect. | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| The autumn wood robed in its scarlet clothes, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The matchless tinting on the royal rose | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Whose velvet leaf by no least flaw is flecked, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Love's supreme moment, when the soul unchecked | 10 | ·˘//˘···˘/ |
| Soars high as heaven, and its best rapture knows-- | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| These hold a deeper pathos than our woes, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·/· |
| Since they leave nothing better to expect. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Resistless change, when powerless to improve, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Can only mar. The gold will pale to gray; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nothing remains tomorrow as to-day; | 10 | /˘˘/˘/···· |
| The lose will not seem quite so fait, and love | 10 | ·········· |
| Must find its measures of delight made less. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Ah, how imperfect is all Perfectness! | 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.