Under Saturn
Do not because this day I have grown saturnineImagine that some lost love, unassailableBeing a portion of my youth, can make me pineAnd so forget the comfort that no words can tellYour coming brought; though I acknowledge I have goneOn a fantastic ride, my horses flanks were spurredBy childish memories of an old cross Pollexfen,And of a Middleton, whose name you never heard,And of a red-haired Yeats whose looks, although he diedBefore my time, seem like a vivid memory.You heard that labouring manwho had served my people. He saidUpon the open road, near to the Sligo quay--No, no, not said, but cried it out--“You have come againAnd surely after twenty years it was time to come.”I am thinking of a child’s vow sworn in vainNever to leave that valley his fathers called their home.
Words in this poem
- saturnine a.
- Born under, or influenced by, the planet Saturn. [L. Saturnus the god Saturn, also, the planet Saturn: cf. F. saturnin of or pertaining to lead (Saturn, in old chemistry, meaning lead),saturnien saturnine, satu]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- quay n.
- A mole, bank, or wharf, formed toward the sea, or at the side of a harbor, river, or other navigable water, for convenience in loading and unloading vessels. [F. quai. See Key quay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Under Saturn is in the public domain. This text is taken from Michael Robartes and the dancer, Project Gutenberg ebook #72987; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, Under Saturn, in Michael Robartes and the Dancer (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #72987, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-michael-robartes/under-saturn.html, id L19944.
Form and metre
Under Saturn is 17 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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-A-B-B-----CDCD saturnine · unassailableA · pine · tellA · gone · spurredB · pollexfen · heardB · died · memory · man · said · quay · againC · comeD · vainC · homeD
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Do not because this day I have grown saturnine | 12 | ·········/˘˘ |
| Imagine that some lost love, unassailable | 12 | ˘/˘·····˘/˘˘ |
| Being a portion of my youth, can make me pine | 12 | /˘·/˘······· |
| And so forget the comfort that no words can tell | 12 | ··˘/·/˘····· |
| Your coming brought; though I acknowledge I have gone | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘··· |
| On a fantastic ride, my horses flanks were spurred | 12 | ··˘/˘··/˘··· |
| By childish memories of an old cross Pollexfen, | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| And of a Middleton, whose name you never heard, | 12 | ···/˘˘···/˘· |
| And of a red-haired Yeats whose looks, although he died | 12 | ············ |
| Before my time, seem like a vivid memory. | 12 | ·······/˘/˘˘ |
| You heard that labouring man | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| who had served my people. He said | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Upon the open road, near to the Sligo quay-- | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| No, no, not said, but cried it out--“You have come again | 13 | ···········˘/ |
| And surely after twenty years it was time to come.” | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| I am thinking of a child’s vow sworn in vain | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Never to leave that valley his fathers called their home. | 12 | /···/˘·/˘··· |
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.