Scansion Of "Under Ben Bulben"

The following is a breakdown of the physical part of the poem.  This includes the syllables that are emphasized when reading the poem, indicated by highlights.  Next to each line is a letter that represents the rhyme scheme of the poem.

 

I

Swear by what the Sages spoke                             A
Round the Mareotic Lake                                       B
That the Witch of Atlas knew,                                 C
Spoke and set the cocks a-crow.                            D

Swear by those horsemen, by those women            A
Complexion and form prove superhuman,                A
That pale, long-visaged company                            B
That airs an immortality                                          B
Completeness of their passions won;                      C
Now they ride the wintry dawn                                C
Where Ben Bulben sets the scene.                         D

Here's the gist of what they mean                         D

II

Many times man lives and dies                               A
Between his two eternities,                                    A
That of race and that of soul,                                 B
And ancient Ireland knew it all.                               B
Whether man dies in his bed                                  C
Or the rifle knocks him dead,                                 C
A brief parting from those dear                              D
Is the worst man has to fear.                                 D
Though grave-diggers' toil is long,                          E
Sharp their spades, their muscles strong.               E
They but thrust their buried men                             F
Back in the human mind again                              F

III

You that Mitchel's prayer have heard,                    A
'Send war in our time, O Lord!'                              A
Know that when all words are said                         B
And a man is fighting mad,                                    B
Something drops from eyes long blind,                   C
He completes his partial mind,                               C
For an instant stands at ease,                               D
Laughs aloud, his heart at peace.                          D
Even the wisest man grows tense                          E
With some sort of violence                                    E
Before he can accomplish fate,                             F
Know his work or choose his mate                      F

IV

Poet and sculptor, do the work,                            A
Nor let the modish painter shirk                             A
What his great forefathers did.                             B
Bring the soul of man to God,                                C
Make him fill the cradles right.                              D

Measurement began our might:                            D
Forms a stark Egyptian thought,                            E
Forms that gentler phidias wrought.                      E

Michael Angelo left a proof                                   F
On the Sistine Chapel roof,                                  F
Where but half-awakened Adam                          G
Can disturb globe-trotting Madam                        G
Till her bowels are in heat,                                   H
Proof that there's a purpose set                           H
Before the secret working mind:                           I
Profane perfection of mankind.                             I

Quattrocento put in paint                                      J
On backgrounds for a God or Saint                      J
Gardens where a soul's at ease;                          K
Where everything that meets the eye,                   L
Flowers and grass and cloudless sky,                   L
Resemble forms that are or seem                        M
When sleepers wake and yet still dream.              M
And when it's vanished still declare,                      N
With only bed and bedstead there,                       N
That heavens had opened.

                                         Gyres run on;            O
When that greater dream had gone                      O
Calvert and Wilson, Blake and Claude,                 P
Prepared a rest for the people of God,                P
Palmer's phrase, but after that                            Q
Confusion fell upon our thought.                           R

V

Irish poets, earn your trade,                                A
Sing whatever is well made,                                A
Scorn the sort now growing up                            B
All out of shape from toe to top,                          B
Their unremembering hearts and heads                C
Base-born products of base beds.                       C
Sing the peasantry, and then                               D
Hard-riding country gentlemen,                            D
The holiness of monks, and after                        
Porter-drinkers' randy laughter;                           E
Sing the lords and ladies gay                              F
That were beaten into the clay                            F
Through seven heroic centuries;                         G
Cast your mind on other days                             F
That we in coming days may be                         H
Still the indomitable Irishry.                                H

VI

Under bare Ben Bulben's head                           A
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.                  B
An ancestor was rector there                             C
Long years ago, a church stands near,               D
By the road an ancient cross.                            E
No marble, no conventional phrase;                   
On limestone quarried near the spot                  G
By his command these words are cut:                H

Cast a cold eye                                 A
On life, on death.      
                        B
Horseman, pass by!      
                    A

 

Meter:

The basic meter of the poem is iambic tetrameter.  There are only a couple deviations from this.  The most significant, however, is line 8 of part I.  Here, Yeats says, "that airs an immortality." Yeats draws attention to this line because it suggests the theme of the poem.  This theme can be seen through references of reincarnation and the embodiment of immortality in the Horsemen.  Another line that should be given special attention, is the last line of part V.  This line reads, "still the indomitable Irishry."  This line is used to describe the power of patriotism and the pride that Yeats has for his fellow countrymen and their accomplishments.

 

Rhyme:

The rhyme scheme of the poem is fairly simple.  It remains relatively the same throughout the poem until the last part.  Part VI does not have any particular rhyme scheme; in fact none of the lines rhyme.  This suggests that Yeats is using prose to illicit a different attitude from the reader.  This attitude reflects the message that Yeats concludes to the reader.  It builds up to the epitaph that concludes the poem.  The lack of rhyming suggests that Yeats is not trying to make a flowery exit, but to convey his message as though he was directly speaking to the reader.    

Title Page  The Poem  Analysis Part I   Analysis Part II   Analysis Part III   Analysis IV   Analysis Part V   Analysis VI   Scansion   Biography