The Child-Friend of Goethe
Bettine, friend of Goethe,Hadst thou the second sight--Upturning worship and delightWith such a loving dutyTo his grand face, as women will,The childhood 'neath thine eyelids still?
--Before his shrine to doom thee,Using the same child's smileThat heaven and earth, beheld erewhileFor the first time, won from theeEre star and flower grew dim and deadSave at his feet and o'er his head?
--Digging thine heart and throwingAway its childhood's gold,That so its woman-depth might holdHis spirit's overflowing?(For surging souls, no worlds can bound,Their channel in the heart have found.)
O child, to change appointed,Thou hadst not second sight!What eyes the future view arightUnless by tears anointed?Yea, only tears themselves can showThe burning ones that have to flow.
O woman, deeply loving,Thou hadst not second sight!The star is very high and bright,And none can see it moving.Love looks around, below, above,Yet all his prophecy is--love.
The bird thy childhood's playingSent onward o'er the sea,Thy dove of hope came back to theeWithout a leaf: art layingIts wet cold wing no sun can dry,Still in thy bosom secretly?
Our Goethe's friend, Bettine,I have the second sight!The stone upon his grave is white,The funeral stone between ye;And in thy mirror thou hast viewedSome change as hardly understood.
Where's childhood? where is Goethe?The tears are in thine eyes.Nay, thou shalt yet reorganizeThy maidenhood of beautyIn his own glory, which is smoothOf wrinkles and sublime in youth.
The poet's arms have wound thee,He breathes upon thy brow,He lifts thee upward in the glowOf his great genius round thee,--The childlike poet undefiledPreserving evermore THE CHILD.
Words in this poem
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- erewhile adv.
- Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- reorganize v. t.
- To organize again or anew; as, to reorganize a society or an army.
- childlike a.
- Resembling a child, or that which belongs to children; becoming a child; meek; submissive; dutiful.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Child-Friend of Goethe is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #33363; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, The Child-Friend of Goethe, in Lady Geraldine's Courtship, and Other Poems (1844), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33363, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barrett-browning-poems-2/the-child-friend-of-goethe.html, id L24834.
Form and metre
The Child-Friend of Goethe is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBACC, in 3 of the 9 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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-BB goethe · sightA · delightA · duty · willB · stillB
- 2 ABBACC theeA · smileB · erewhileB · theeA · deadC · headC
- 3 ABBACC throwingA · goldB · holdB · overflowingA · boundC · foundC
- 4 ABBACC appointedA · sightB · arightB · anointedA · showC · flowC
- 5 -AA-BB loving · sightA · brightA · moving · aboveB · loveB
- 6 ABBAB- playingA · seaB · theeB · layingA · dryB · secretly
- 7 -AA--- bettine · sightA · whiteA · ye · viewed · understood
- 8 -AA--- goethe · eyesA · reorganizeA · beauty · smooth · youth
- 9 A--ABB theeA · brow · glow · theeA · undefiledB · childB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Bettine, friend of Goethe, | 5 | ····· |
| Hadst thou the second sight-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Upturning worship and delight | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With such a loving duty | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To his grand face, as women will, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The childhood 'neath thine eyelids still? | 8 | ·/···/·· |
| --Before his shrine to doom thee, | 7 | ······· |
| Using the same child's smile | 6 | /˘···· |
| That heaven and earth, beheld erewhile | 10 | ·/··˘/···· |
| For the first time, won from thee | 7 | ······· |
| Ere star and flower grew dim and dead | 8 | ···/···· |
| Save at his feet and o'er his head? | 8 | ········ |
| --Digging thine heart and throwing | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Away its childhood's gold, | 6 | ˘/·/·· |
| That so its woman-depth might hold | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His spirit's overflowing? | 7 | ·/˘/˘·˘ |
| (For surging souls, no worlds can bound, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their channel in the heart have found.) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O child, to change appointed, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Thou hadst not second sight! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What eyes the future view aright | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Unless by tears anointed? | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Yea, only tears themselves can show | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The burning ones that have to flow. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O woman, deeply loving, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Thou hadst not second sight! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The star is very high and bright, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And none can see it moving. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Love looks around, below, above, | 8 | ········ |
| Yet all his prophecy is--love. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The bird thy childhood's playing | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Sent onward o'er the sea, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thy dove of hope came back to thee | 8 | ········ |
| Without a leaf: art laying | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Its wet cold wing no sun can dry, | 8 | ········ |
| Still in thy bosom secretly? | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Our Goethe's friend, Bettine, | 6 | /˘···· |
| I have the second sight! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The stone upon his grave is white, | 8 | ········ |
| The funeral stone between ye; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And in thy mirror thou hast viewed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some change as hardly understood. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Where's childhood? where is Goethe? | 6 | ·/···· |
| The tears are in thine eyes. | 6 | ······ |
| Nay, thou shalt yet reorganize | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Thy maidenhood of beauty | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| In his own glory, which is smooth | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of wrinkles and sublime in youth. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The poet's arms have wound thee, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| He breathes upon thy brow, | 6 | ······ |
| He lifts thee upward in the glow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of his great genius round thee,-- | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The childlike poet undefiled | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Preserving evermore THE CHILD. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
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