Upon the Sand
All love that has not friendship for its baseIs like a mansion built upon the sand.Though brave its walls as any in the land,And its tall turrets lift their heads in grace;Though skilful and accomplished artists traceMost beautiful designs on every hand,And gleaming statues in dim niches stand,And fountains play in some flow'r-hidden place:
Yet, when from the frowning east a sudden gustOf adverse fate is blown, or sad rains fall,Day in, day out, against its yielding wall,Lo! the fair structure crumbles to the dust.Love, to endure life's sorrow and earth's woe,Needs friendship's solid mason-work below.
Words in this poem
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Upon the Sand 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, Upon the Sand, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/upon-the-sand.html, id L22145.
Form and metre
Upon the Sand is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABBAABBA baseA · sandB · landB · graceA · traceA · handB · standB · placeA
- 2 ABBACC gustA · fallB · wallB · dustA · woeC · belowC
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 love that has not friendship for its base | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Is like a mansion built upon the sand. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Though brave its walls as any in the land, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And its tall turrets lift their heads in grace; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Though skilful and accomplished artists trace | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Most beautiful designs on every hand, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| And gleaming statues in dim niches stand, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| And fountains play in some flow'r-hidden place: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Yet, when from the frowning east a sudden gust | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| Of adverse fate is blown, or sad rains fall, | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Day in, day out, against its yielding wall, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lo! the fair structure crumbles to the dust. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Love, to endure life's sorrow and earth's woe, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Needs friendship's solid mason-work below. | 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.