Analysis of The Drug-Shop, or, Endymion in Edmonstoun
Stephen Vincent Benet 1898 (Bethlehem) – 1943 (New York City)
"Oh yes, I went over to Edmonstoun the other day and saw Johnny, mooning around as usual! He will never make his way."
Letter of George Keats, 18--
Night falls; the great jars glow against the dark,
Dark green, dusk red, and, like a coiling snake,
Writhing eternally in smoky gyres,
Great ropes of gorgeous vapor twist and turn
Within them. So the Eastern fisherman
Saw the swart genie rise when the lead seal,
Scribbled with charms, was lifted from the jar;
And -- well, how went the tale? Like this, like this? . . .
No herbage broke the barren flats of land,
No winds dared loiter within smiling trees,
Nor were there any brooks on either hand,
Only the dry, bright sand,
Naked and golden, lay before the seas.
One boat toiled noiselessly along the deep,
The thirsty ripples dying silently
Upon its track. Far out the brown nets sweep,
And night begins to creep
Across the intolerable mirror of the sea.
Twice the nets rise, a-trail with sea-plants brown,
Distorted shells, and rocks green-mossed with slime,
Nought else. The fisher, sick at heart, kneels down;
"Prayer may appease God's frown,"
He thinks, then, kneeling, casts for the third time.
And lo! an earthen jar, bound round with brass,
Lies tangled in the cordage of his net.
About the bright waves gleam like shattered glass,
And where the sea's rim was
The sun dips, flat and red, about to set.
The prow grates on the beach. The fisherman
Stoops, tearing at the cords that bind the seal.
Shall pearls roll out, lustrous and white and wan?
Lapis? carnelian?
Unheard-of stones that make the sick mind reel
With wonder of their beauty? Rubies, then?
Green emeralds, glittering like the eyes of beasts?
Poisonous opals, good to madden men?
Gold bezants, ten and ten?
Hard, regal diamonds, like kingly feasts?
He tugged; the seal gave way. A little smoke
Curled like a feather in the darkening sky.
A blinding gush of fire burst, flamed, and broke.
A voice like a wind spoke.
Armored with light, and turbaned terribly,
A genie tramped the round earth underfoot;
His head sought out the stars, his cupped right hand
Made half the sky one darkness. He was mute.
The sun, a ripened fruit,
Drooped lower. Scarlet eddied o'er the sand.
The genie spoke: "O miserable one!
Thy prize awaits thee; come, and hug it close!
A noble crown thy draggled nets have won
For this that thou hast done.
Blessed are fools! A gift remains for those!"
His hand sought out his sword, and lightnings flared
Across the sky in one great bloom of fire.
Poised like a toppling mountain, it hung bared;
Suns that were jewels glared
Along its hilt. The air burnt like a pyre.
Once more the genie spoke: "Something I owe
To thee, thou fool, thou fool. Come, canst thou sing?
Yea? Sing then; if thy song be brave, then go
Free and released -- or no!
Find first some task, some overmastering thing
I cannot do, and find it speedily,
For if thou dost not thou shalt surely die!"
The sword whirled back. The fisherman uprose,
And if at first his voice was weak with fear
And his limbs trembled, it was but a doze,
And at the high song's close
He stood up straight. His voice rang loud and clear.
Last night the quays were lighted;
Cressets of smoking pine
Glared o'er the roaring mariners
That drink the yellow wine.
Their song rolled to the rafters,
It struck the high stars pale,
Such worth was in their discourse,
Such wonder in their tale.
Blue borage filled the clinking cups,
The murky night grew wan,
Till one rose, crowned with laurel-leaves,
That was an outland man.
"Come, let us drink to war!" said he,
"The torch of the sacked town!
The swan's-bath and the wolf-ships,
And Harald of renown!
"Yea, while the milk was on his lips,
Before the day was born,
He took the Almayne Kaiser's head
To be his drinking-horn!
"Yea, while the down was on his chin,
Or yet his beard was grown,
He broke the gates of Micklegarth,
And stole the lion-throne!
"Drink to Harald, king of the world,
Lord of the tongue and the troth!
To the bellowing horns of Ostfriesland,
And the trumpets of the Goth!"
Their shouts rolled to the rafters,
The drink-horns crashed and rang,
And all their talk was a clangor of war,
As swords toget
Scheme | XA XXABCDXX EFEEF GHGGH IJIIJ KLKXL CDMBD NONNO PQPPH XERRE STSSU VWVVW XYXXYHQ AZUTZ X1 2 1 2 3 X3 XMXC HI4 I 4 5 X5 X6 7 6 X7 E7 2 XXE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111110110101011010111001110111 10111 1101110101 111101011 1001000101 1111010101 011101010 1011011011 1011110101 0111011111 111010111 1111001101 1011011101 100111 1001010101 11110101 0101010100 0111110111 010111 0100100010101 1011011111 0101011111 1101011111 110111 1111011011 0111011111 1100010111 0101111101 010111 0111010111 011101010 1101011101 1111100101 101 0111110111 1101110101 11010010111 100111101 11101 110101101 1101110101 11010001001 01011101101 011011 101101100 010101101 1111011111 1101110111 010101 1101011001 0101110001 1101110111 010111111 111111 111010111 1111110101 01010111110 11010010111 110101 01110111010 1101011011 1111111111 1111111111 100111 1111111 1101011100 1111111101 01110101 0111111111 0111011101 010111 1111111101 1101010 11101 110010100 110101 1111010 110111 1110110 110011 111011 010111 11111101 11111 11111111 011011 0110011 010101 11011111 010111 1101101 111101 11011111 111111 110111 010101 11101101 1101001 10100111 0010101 1111010 011101 011110111 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,157 |
Words | 751 |
Sentences | 63 |
Stanzas | 22 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 7, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 104 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 146 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:45 min read
- 37 Views
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"The Drug-Shop, or, Endymion in Edmonstoun" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35817/the-drug-shop%2C-or%2C-endymion-in-edmonstoun>.
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