"It Is No Spirit Who from Heaven Hath Flown"
It is no Spirit who from heaven hath flown,And is descending on his embassy;Nor Traveller gone from earth the heavens to espy!'Tis Hesperus--there he stands with glittering crown,First admonition that the sun is down!For yet it is broad day-light: clouds pass by;A few are near him still--and now the sky,He hath it to himself--'tis all his own.O most ambitious Star! an inquest wroughtWithin me when I recognised thy light;A moment I was startled at the sight:And, while I gazed, there came to me a thoughtThat I might step beyond my natural raceAs thou seem'st now to do; might one day traceSome ground not mine; and, strong her strength above,My Soul, an Apparition in the place,Tread there with steps that no one shall reprove!
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- inquest n.
- Inquiry; quest; search. [OE. enqueste, OF. enqueste, F. enquête, LL. inquesta, for inquisita, fr. L. inquisitus, p.p. of inquirere. See Inquire.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"It Is No Spirit Who from Heaven Hath Flown" 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, "It Is No Spirit Who from Heaven Hath Flown", in The Brothers, and Other Poems (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/it-is-no-spirit-who-from-heaven-hath-flown.html, id L17380.
Form and metre
"It Is No Spirit Who from Heaven Hath Flown" is 17 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A--BBCCADEEDFF-F- flownA · embassy · espy · crownB · downB · byC · skyC · ownA · wroughtD · lightE · sightE · thoughtD · raceF · traceF · above · placeF · reprove
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is no Spirit who from heaven hath flown, | 10 | ···/··/˘·· |
| And is descending on his embassy; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Nor Traveller gone from earth the heavens to espy! | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| 'Tis Hesperus--there he stands with glittering crown, | 11 | ·/˘˘····/˘· |
| First admonition that the sun is down! | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| For yet it is broad day-light: clouds pass by; | 10 | ·········· |
| A few are near him still--and now the sky, | 10 | ·········· |
| He hath it to himself--'tis all his own. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| O most ambitious Star! an inquest wrought | 10 | ··˘/˘··/·· |
| Within me when I recognised thy light; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A moment I was startled at the sight: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought | 10 | ·········· |
| That I might step beyond my natural race | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As thou seem'st now to do; might one day trace | 10 | ·········· |
| Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above, | 10 | ·········· |
| My Soul, an Apparition in the place, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Tread there with steps that no one shall reprove! | 10 | ········˘/ |
On this poem
Written at Town-end, Grasmere. I remember the instant my sister S. H., called me to the window of our Cottage, saying, "Look how beautiful is yon star! It has the sky all to itself." I composed the verses immediately.
Notes from the edition 2
William Knight's notes to The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 2 (1896; Project Gutenberg #12145): Wordsworth's own Isabella Fenwick notes and Knight's headnotes on composition and publication, plus his lettered footnotes (restarting at A for every poem).
- Line 14 1807. O most ambitious Star! an inquest wrought Within me when I recognised thy light; A moment I was startled at the sight: And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought That even I beyond my natural race Might step as thou dost now: might one day trace 1815. O most ambitious Star! thy Presence brought A startling recollection to my mind Of the distinguished few among mankind, Who dare to step beyond their natural race, As thou seem'st now to do:--nor was a thought Denied--that even I might one day trace 1820. The text of 1836 returns to that of 1807.
- Line 17 Professor Dowden directs attention to the relation between these lines and the poem beginning "If thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven."--Ed.
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