The Secret Rose
Far off, most secret, and inviolate Rose,Enfold me in my hour of hours; where thoseWho sought thee in the Holy Sepulchre,Or in the wine vat, dwell beyond the stirAnd tumult of defeated dreams; and deepAmong pale eyelids, heavy with the sleepMen have named beauty. Thy great leaves enfoldThe ancient beards, the helms of ruby and goldOf the crowned Magi; and the king whose eyesSaw the Pierced Hands and Rood of elder riseIn druid vapour and make the torches dim;Till vain frenzy awoke and he died; and himWho met Fand walking among flaming dewBy a gray shore where the wind never blew,And lost the world and Emer for a kiss;And him who drove the gods out of their liss,And till a hundred morns had flowered red,Feasted and wept the barrows of his dead;And the proud dreaming king who flung the crownAnd sorrow away, and calling bard and clownDwelt among wine-stained wanderers in deep woods;And him who sold tillage, and house, and goods,And sought through lands and islands numberless years,Until he found with laughter and with tears,A woman, of so shining loveliness,That men threshed corn at midnight by a tress,A little stolen tress. I, too, awaitThe hour of thy great wind of love and hate.When shall the stars be blown about the sky,Like the sparks blown out of a smithy, and die?Surely thine hour has come, thy great wind blows,Far off, most secret, and inviolate Rose?
Words in this poem 15
- inviolate a.
- Not violated; uninjured; unhurt; unbroken. [L. inviolatus. See In- not, and Violate.]
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- sepulchre n.
- The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [OE. sepulcre, OF. sepulcre, F. sépulcre, fr. L. sepulcrum, sepulchrum, fr. sepelire to bury.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- rood n.
- A representation in sculpture or in painting of the cross with Christ hanging on it. [AS. rr, D. roede rod, G. ruthe, rute, OHG. ruota. CF. Rod a measure.]
- druid n.
- One of an order of priests which in ancient times existed among certain branches of the Celtic race, especially among the Gauls and Britons. [L. Druides; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. draoi, druidh, magician, Druid, W. derwydd Druid.]
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- liss n.
- Release; remission; ease; relief. [AS. liss.]
- numberless a.
- Innumerable; countless.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- tress n.
- A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet. [OE. tresse, OF. trece, F. tresse, LL. tricia, fr. Gr. tri`cha threefold, because a tress is usually formed by interlacing three pieces; akin to trei^s three. Se]
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- 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,]
- smithy n.
- The workshop of a smith, esp. a blacksmith; a smithery; a stithy. [AS. smi, fr. smi; akin to D. smidse, smids, OHG. smitta, G. schmiede, Icel. smi. See Smith, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Secret Rose is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Wind Among the Reeds, Project Gutenberg ebook #32233; 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, The Secret Rose, in The Wind Among the Reeds (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32233, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-wind-among-reeds/the-secret-rose.html, id L04541.
Form and metre
The Secret Rose is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: heroic couplets. 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. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% 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--BBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKLLMMNN roseA · thoseA · sepulchre · stir · deepB · sleepB · enfoldC · goldC · eyesD · riseD · dimE · himE · dewF · blewF · kissG · lissG · redH · deadH · crownI · clownI · woodsJ · goodsJ · years · tears · lovelinessK · tressK · awaitL · hateL · skyM · dieM · blowsN · roseN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Far off, most secret, and inviolate Rose, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Enfold me in my hour of hours; where those | 10 | ˘/···/·/·· |
| Who sought thee in the Holy Sepulchre, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Or in the wine vat, dwell beyond the stir | 10 | ·········· |
| And tumult of defeated dreams; and deep | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Among pale eyelids, heavy with the sleep | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Men have named beauty. Thy great leaves enfold | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The ancient beards, the helms of ruby and gold | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Of the crowned Magi; and the king whose eyes | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Saw the Pierced Hands and Rood of elder rise | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In druid vapour and make the torches dim; | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| Till vain frenzy awoke and he died; and him | 11 | ··/˘˘/····· |
| Who met Fand walking among flaming dew | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By a gray shore where the wind never blew, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And lost the world and Emer for a kiss; | 10 | ·········· |
| And him who drove the gods out of their liss, | 10 | ·········· |
| And till a hundred morns had flowered red, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Feasted and wept the barrows of his dead; | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And the proud dreaming king who flung the crown | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And sorrow away, and calling bard and clown | 11 | ·/˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Dwelt among wine-stained wanderers in deep woods; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And him who sold tillage, and house, and goods, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And sought through lands and islands numberless years, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘˘· |
| Until he found with laughter and with tears, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A woman, of so shining loveliness, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| That men threshed corn at midnight by a tress, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| A little stolen tress. I, too, await | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| The hour of thy great wind of love and hate. | 10 | ·/········ |
| When shall the stars be blown about the sky, | 10 | ·········· |
| Like the sparks blown out of a smithy, and die? | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Surely thine hour has come, thy great wind blows, | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| Far off, most secret, and inviolate Rose? | 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.