Notice the rhythm in the third line of the first stanza.
What is the peculiarity of the eighth line of the first stanza?
Find lines in the other stanzas which contain rhymes. Notice the last word in each of these lines. What two things have you found out?
Lanier believed that poetry is a kind of music. Does the rhythm in this poem sustain this definition?
Point out lines that are especially musical and pleasing.
Habersham, Hall--Counties in northern Georgia.
Words and Phrases for Discussion.
"laving laurel"
"fondling gra.s.s"
"friendly brawl"
"made lures"
"lordly main"
"run the rapid"
"leap the fall"
"hurry amain"
"veiling the valleys"
"flickering meaning"
"the mills are to turn"
"I am fain for to water the plain"
THE CATARACT OF LODORE
ROBERT SOUTHEY.
"How does the water Come down at Lodore?"
My little boy asked me Thus, once on a time; And, moreover, he tasked me To tell him in rhyme.
Anon at the word, There first came one daughter, And then came another, To second and third The request of their brother, And to hear how the water Comes down at Lodore, With its rush and its roar, As many a time They had seen it before.
So I told them in rhyme-- For of rhymes I had store; And "twas my vocation For their recreation That so I should sing; Because I was Laureate To them and the king.
From its sources, which well In the tarn on the fell; From its fountains In the mountains, Its rills and its gills; Through moss and through brake, It runs and it creeps For a while, till it sleeps In its own little lake.
And thence, at departing, Awakening and starting, It runs through the reeds, And away it proceeds, Through meadow and glade, In sun and in shade, And through the wood shelter, Among crags in its flurry, Helter-skelter, Hurry-skurry.
Here it comes sparkling, And there it lies darkling; Now smoking and frothing In tumult and wrath in, Till, in this rapid race On which it is bent, It reaches the place Of its steep descent.
The cataract strong Then plunges along, Striking and raging, As if a war waging Its caverns and rocks among; Rising and leaping, Sinking and creeping, Swelling and sweeping, Showering and springing, Flying and flinging, Writhing and ringing, Eddying and whisking, Spouting and frisking, Turning and twisting, Around and around With endless rebound; Smiting and fighting, A sight to delight in; Confounding, astounding, Dizzying, and deafening the ear with its sound,
Collecting, projecting, Receding and speeding, And shocking and rocking, And darting and parting, And threading and spreading, And whizzing and hissing, And dripping and skipping, And hitting and splitting, And shining and twining, And rattling and battling, And shaking and quaking, And pouring and roaring, And waving and raving, And tossing and crossing, And flowing and going, And running and stunning, And foaming and roaming, And dinning and spinning, And dropping and hopping, And working and jerking, And guggling and struggling, And heaving and cleaving, And moaning and groaning, And glittering and frittering, And gathering and feathering, And whitening and brightening, And quivering and shivering, And hurrying and skurrying, And thundering and floundering;
Dividing and gliding and sliding, And falling and brawling and sprawling, And driving and riving and striving, And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling, And sounding and bounding and rounding, And bubbling and troubling and doubling, And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling, And chattering and battering and shattering; Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting, Delaying and straying and playing and spraying, Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing, Recoiling, turmoiling, and toiling and boiling, And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming, And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing, And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping, And curling and whirling and purling and twirling, And thumping and plumping and b.u.mping and jumping.
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing; And so never ending, but always descending, Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending, All at once, and all o"er, with a mighty uproar: And this way the water comes down at Lodore.
HELPS TO STUDY.
Biographical: Robert Southey, 1774-1843, was a great English poet. In 1813 he was made poet laureate.
Notes and Questions.
Who was "laureate"? What is it to be "laureate"?
Who was the king to whom Southey was poet-laureate?
To whom beside the king does he say he is laureate?
What do you think he means by this?
Find this cataract on your map (Derwent River in c.u.mberland). What is a cataract? Have you ever seen one?
Find changes in rhythm as the stream advances.
Where in the poem does Southey first use lines in which two words rhyme? In which three words rhyme?
Why does the poet use all these rhymes?
Compare the first and second stanzas as to rate.
Point out lines that are especially pleasing to you.
Words and Phrases for Discussion.
"cataract"
"tarn"
"brake"
"glade"
"helter-skelter"
"hurry-skurry"
"vocation"
"recreation"
"fell"
THE BELLS
EDGAR ALLAN POE