Scanning of some Passages from Savitri
It was| the hour| be+fore| the Gods| a+wake.| 1.1
A+cross| the path| of the| di+vine| E+vent|
The huge| fore+bod|+ing mind| of Night,| a+lone|
In her| un+lit| tem+ple| of e+ter|+ni+ty,|
Lay stretched| im+mo|bile+ u|+pon Si|+lence’ marge.| 1.2
Al+most| one felt,| o+paque,| im+pen+e|+tra+ble,|
In the som|+bre sym|+bol of| her eye|+less muse|
The a+bysm| of the| un+bod|+ied In|+fi+nite;|
A fath|+om+less ze|+ro oc|+cu+pied| the world.| 1.3
A pow+er| of fall|+en bound|+less self| a+wake|
Be+tween| the first| and the| last Noth|+ing+ness,|
Re+call+ing| the ten|+e+brous womb| from which| it came,|
Turned from| the in+sol|+u+ble mys|+ter+y| of birth|
And the tar|+dy pro|+cess of| mor+tal|+i+ty|
And longed| to reach| its end in va|+cant Nought.| 1.4
As in| a dark| be+gin|ning of| all things,|
A mute| fea+ture|+less sem|+blance of| the Un+known|
Re+peat|+ing for ev|+er the| un+con|+scious act,|
Pro+long|+ing for ev|+er the| un+see|+ing will,|
Cra+dled| the cos|+mic drowse| of ig|+no+rant Force|
Whose moved| cre+a|+tive slum|+ber kin|+dles the suns|
And car|+ries our lives| in its| som+nam|+bu+list whirl.| 1.5
In the sombre symbol of her eyeless muse
A painting by Huta
A blind|+fold search| and wres|+tle and fum|+bl+ing clasp|
Of a| half-seen| Na+ture| and a hid|+den Soul,|
A game| of hide| and seek| in twi|+lit rooms,|
A play| of love| and hate| and fear| and hope|
Con+tin|+ues in| the nurs|+er+y| of mind|
Its hard| and heav|+y romp| of self|-born twins.| 40.34
In+to| a cre+a|+tive cha|+os they| are cast|
Where all| asks or|+der but| is driv|+en by Chance;|
Stran+gers to| earth-na|+ture, they| must learn| earth’s ways,|
Al+iens| or op|+po+sites,| they must| u+nite:|
They work| and bat|+tle and| with pain| a+gree:|
These join,| those part,| all parts| and joins| a+new,|
Till all| have found| their di|+vine har|+mo+ny.| 43.23
Her time+less| Pow+er| that lay| once on| the lap|
Of a| be+gin|+ning+less| and end|+less Calm,|
Now sev|+ered from| the Spir|+it’s im+mor|+tal bliss,|
E+rects| the type| of all| the joys| she has lost;|
Com+pel|+ling tran|+si+ent sub|+stance in|+to shape,|
She hopes| by the| cre+a|+tive act’s| re+lease|
To o+’er+leap| some+times| the gulf| she can|+not fill,|
To heal| a+while| the wound| of sev|+er+ance,|
Es+cape| from the mo|+ment’s pris|+on of lit|+tle+ness|
And meet| the E+ter|+nal’s wide| sub+lim|+i+ties|
In the| un+cer|+tain time|-field por|+tioned here.| 50.16
This was| the law| of things| none dreame|d to change:|
A hard| som+bre heart,| a harsh| un+smil|+ing mind|
Re+ject|+ed hap|+pi+ness| like a cloy|+ing sweet;|
Tran+quil|+li+ty| was a te|+di+um| and en+nui:|
On+ly| by suf|+fer+ing| life grew| co+lour+ful;|
It need|+ed the spice| of pain,| the salt| of tears.| 64.8
As if| a beck|+on+ing fin|+ger of se|+cre+cy|
Out+stretched| in+to| a crys|+tal mood| of air,|
Point+ing| at him| from some| near hid|+den depth,|
As if| a mes|+sage from| the world’s| deep soul,|
An in|+ti+ma|+tion of| a lurk|+ing joy|
That flowed| out from| a cup| of brood|+ing bliss,|
There shim|+mered steal|+ing out| in+to| the Mind|
A mute| and quiv|+er+ing ec|+sta+sy| of light,|
A pas|+sion and del|i+ca+cy| of ro|+se+ate fire.| 75.5
A+bol|+ish+ing| the sign|+less emp|+ti+ness,|
Break+ing| the va|+can+cy| and voice|+less hush,|
Pierc+ing| the lim|+it+less| Un+know|+a+ble,|
In+to| the lib|+er+ty| of the mo|+tion+less depths|
A beau+ti|+ful and| fe+lic|+i+tous lus|+tre stole,|
A beau|+ti+ful| and fe+lic|+i+tous| lus+tre stole,|
Im+aged| it+self| in a| sur+pris|+ing beam|
And built| a gold|+en pas|+sage to| his heart|
Touch+ing| through him| all long|+ing sen|+ti+ent things.| 81.4
In the| in+de+ter|+mi+nate form|+less+ness| of Self|
Cre+a|+tion took| its first| mys+te|+ri+ous steps,|
It made| the bod|+y’s shape| a house| of soul|
And Mat|+ter learned| to think| and per|+son grew;|
She saw| Space peo|+pled with| the seeds| of life|
And saw| the hu|+man crea|+ture born| in Time.| 117.2
The Man|+y are| the in+nu|+mer+a|+ble One,|
The One| car+ries| the mul|+ti+tude| in his breast;|
He is| the Im+per|+son+al,| in+scru|+ta+ble, sole,|
He is| the one| in+fi|+nite Per|+son see|+ing his world;|
The Si|+lence bears| the E+ter|+nal’s great| dumb seal,|
His light| in+spi|+res the| e+ter|+nal Word;|
He is| the Im+mo|+bile’s deep| and death|+less hush,|
Its white| and sign|+less blank| ne+gat|ing calm,|
Yet stands| the cre+a|+tor Self,| the al+might|+y Lord|
And watch|+es his will| done by| the forms| of gods|
And the| de+sire| that goads| half-con|+scious man|
And the| re+luc|+tant and| unsee|+ing Night.| 146.26
These wide| di+vine| ex+tremes|, these in+verse| pow+ers|
Are the right| and left| side of| the bod|+y of God;|
Ex+ist|+ence bal|+anced twixt| two might|+y arms|
Con+fronts| the mind| with un+solved| a+bysms| of Thought.| 146.27
Down with| a hur|+ried swim|+ming float|+ing lapse|
Through un|+seen worlds| and bot|+tom+less spac|+es forced|
Sank like| a star| the soul| of Sa|+vi+tri.| 156.2
A+midst| a laugh|+ter of| un+earth|+ly lyres|
She heard| a+round| her name|+less voic|+es cry|
Tri+um|+phing, an| in+nu|+mer+a+ble sound.| 156.3
A choir| of laugh|+ing winds| to meet| her came.| 156.4
She bore| the bur|+den of| in+fin|+i+ty|
And felt| the stir| of all| e+the|+re+al space.| 156.5
Drawn by| white manes| u+pon| a high|-roofed car|
In flare| of the| un+stead|+y torch|+es went|
With linked| hands Sat|+ya+van| and Sa|+vi+tri,|
Hear+ing| a mar|+riage march| and nup|+tial hymn,|
Where wait|+ed them| the man|+y-voiced| hu+man world.| 159.3
Num+ber+less| the stars| swam on| their shad|+ow+y field|
De+scrib|+ing in| the gloom| the ways| of light.| 159.4
Metrical Feet
Macron and breve notation:
– accented/stressed/long syllable;
◡ unaccented/unstressed/short syllable
Disyllables
◡ ◡ pyrrhus, dibrach
◡ – iamb (or iambus or jambus)
– ◡ trochee, choree (or choreus)
– – spondee
Trisyllables
◡ ◡ ◡ tribrach
– ◡ ◡ dactyl
◡ – ◡ amphibrach
◡ ◡ – anapaest, antidactylus
◡ – – bacchius
– ◡ – cretic, amphimacer
– – ◡ antibacchius
– – – molossus
Tetrasyllables
◡ ◡ ◡ ◡ tetrabrach, proceleusmatic
– ◡ ◡ ◡ primus paeon
◡ – ◡ ◡ secundus paeon
◡ ◡ – ◡ tertius paeon
◡ ◡ ◡ – quartus paeon
– – ◡ ◡ major ionic, double trochee
◡ ◡ – – minor ionic, double iamb
– ◡ – ◡ ditrochee
◡ – ◡ – diiamb
– ◡ ◡ – choriamb
◡ – – ◡ antispast
◡ – – – first epitrite
– ◡ – – second epitrite
– – ◡ – third epitrite
– – – ◡ fourth epitrite
– – – – dispondee
If a line has only one foot, it is called a monometer; two feet, dimeter; three is trimeter; four is tetrameter; five is pentameter; six is hexameter, seven is heptameter and eight is octameter. If the feet are iambs and if there are five feet to a line, then it is called an iambic pentameter. If the feet are primarily dactyls and there are six to a line, then it is a dactylic hexameter. In classical Greek and Latin the name “iambic trimeter” refers to a line with six iambic feet.
Metric variations
Poems with a well-defined overall metric pattern often have a few lines that violate that pattern. A common variation is the inversion of a foot, which turns an iamb (“da-DUM”) into a trochee (“DUM-da”). A second variation is a headless verse, which lacks the first syllable of the first foot. A third variation is catalexis, where the end of a line is shortened by a foot, or two or part thereof – an example of this is at the end of each verse in Keats’ La Belle Dame sans Merci:
And on thy cheeks a fading rose (4 feet)
Fast withereth too (2 feet)
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