Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August, 1803
The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian plainsMight sometimes covet dissoluble chains;Even for the tenants of the zone that liesBeyond the stars, celestial Paradise,Methinks 'twould heighten joy, to overleapAt will the crystal battlements, and peepInto some other region, though less fair,To see how things are made and managed there.Change for the worse might please, incursion boldInto the tracts of darkness and of cold;O'er Limbo lake with aëry flight to steer,And on the verge of Chaos hang in fear.Such animation often do I find,Power in my breast, wings growing in my mind,Then, when some rock or hill is overpast,Perchance without one look behind me cast,Some barrier with which Nature, from the birthOf things, has fenced this fairest spot on earth.O pleasant transit, Grasmere! to resignSuch happy fields, abodes so calm as thine;Not like an outcast with himself at strife;The slave of business, time, or care for life,But moved by choice; or, if constrained in part,Yet still with Nature's freedom at the heart;--To cull contentment upon wildest shores,And luxuries extract from bleakest moors;With prompt embrace all beauty to enfold,And having rights in all that we behold.--Then why these lingering steps?--A bright adieu,For a brief absence, proves that love is true;Ne'er can the way be irksome or forlornThat winds into itself for sweet return.
Words in this poem
- elysian a.
- Pertaining, or the abode of the blessed after death; hence, yielding the highest pleasures; exceedingly delightful; beatific. [L. Elysius, fr. Elysium.]
- dissoluble a.
- Capable of being dissolved; having its parts separable by heat or moisture; convertible into a fluid. Woodward. [L. dissolubilis: cf. F. dissoluble. See Dissolve, and cf. Dissolvable.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- heighten v. t.
- To make high; to raise higher; to elevate.
- overleap v. t.
- To leap over or across; hence, to omit; to ignore. [AS. oferhleápan. See Over, and Leap.]
- limbo n.
- An extramundane region where certain classes of souls were supposed to await the judgment. [L. limbus border, edge in limbo on the border. Cf. Limb border.]
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
- outcast a.
- Cast out; degraded. [Cf. Sw. utkasta to cast out.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- irksome a.
- Wearisome; tedious; disagreeable or troublesome by reason of long continuance or repetition; as, irksome hours; irksome tasks.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August, 1803 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August, 1803, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/departure-from-the-vale-of-grasmere-august-1803.html, id L17381.
Form and metre
Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August, 1803 is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 81% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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--BBCCDDCCEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKLL-- plainsA · chainsA · lies · paradise · overleapB · peepB · fairC · thereC · boldD · coldD · steerC · fearC · findE · mindE · overpastF · castF · birthG · earthG · resignH · thineH · strifeI · lifeI · partJ · heartJ · shores · moors · enfoldK · beholdK · adieuL · trueL · forlorn · return
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian plains | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Might sometimes covet dissoluble chains; | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘˘˘· |
| Even for the tenants of the zone that lies | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| Beyond the stars, celestial Paradise, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Methinks 'twould heighten joy, to overleap | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| At will the crystal battlements, and peep | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Into some other region, though less fair, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To see how things are made and managed there. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Change for the worse might please, incursion bold | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Into the tracts of darkness and of cold; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| O'er Limbo lake with aëry flight to steer, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And on the verge of Chaos hang in fear. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Such animation often do I find, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Power in my breast, wings growing in my mind, | 9 | /····/··· |
| Then, when some rock or hill is overpast, | 10 | ·········· |
| Perchance without one look behind me cast, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Some barrier with which Nature, from the birth | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of things, has fenced this fairest spot on earth. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| O pleasant transit, Grasmere! to resign | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Such happy fields, abodes so calm as thine; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Not like an outcast with himself at strife; | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| The slave of business, time, or care for life, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But moved by choice; or, if constrained in part, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Yet still with Nature's freedom at the heart;-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| To cull contentment upon wildest shores, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And luxuries extract from bleakest moors; | 9 | ·/˘˘/·/˘· |
| With prompt embrace all beauty to enfold, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And having rights in all that we behold. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| --Then why these lingering steps?--A bright adieu, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| For a brief absence, proves that love is true; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ne'er can the way be irksome or forlorn | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| That winds into itself for sweet return. | 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.