The Grandfather's Departure
The Old Man press'd Palemon's hand;To Lucy nodded with a smile;Kiss'd all the little ones around;Then clos'd the gate, and paus'd awhile.
"When shall I come again!" he thought,Ere yet the journey had begun;It was a tedious length of way,But he beheld an only son.
And dearly did he love to takeA rosy grandchild on his knee;To part his shining locks, and say,"Just such another boy was he!"
And never felt he greater pride,And never did he look so gay,As when the little urchins stroveTo make him partner in their play.
But when, in some more gentle mood,They silent hung upon his arm,Or nestled close at ev'ning pray'r,The old man felt a softer charm;
And upward rais'd his closing eye,Whence slow effus'd a grateful tear,As if his senses own'd a joy,Too holy for endurance here.
No heart e'er pray'd so fervently,Unprompted by an earthly zeal,None ever knew such tenderness,That did not true devotion feel.
As with the pure, uncolour'd flame,The violet's richest blues unite,Do our affections soar to heav'n,And rarify and beam with light.
Words in this poem
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- grandchild n.
- A son's or daughter's child; a child in the second degree of descent.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Grandfather's Departure is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #9998; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matilda Betham, The Grandfather's Departure, in Poems (1808), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9998, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/betham-poems/the-grandfather-s-departure.html, id L23513.
Form and metre
The Grandfather's Departure is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 -A-A hand · smileA · around · awhileA
- 2 -A-A thought · begunA · way · sonA
- 3 -A-A take · kneeA · say · heA
- 4 -A-A pride · gayA · strove · playA
- 5 -A-A mood · armA · pray'r · charmA
- 6 -A-A eye · tearA · joy · hereA
- 7 -A-A fervently · zealA · tenderness · feelA
- 8 -A-A flame · uniteA · heav'n · lightA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Old Man press'd Palemon's hand; | 8 | ········ |
| To Lucy nodded with a smile; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Kiss'd all the little ones around; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then clos'd the gate, and paus'd awhile. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "When shall I come again!" he thought, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Ere yet the journey had begun; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| It was a tedious length of way, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But he beheld an only son. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And dearly did he love to take | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A rosy grandchild on his knee; | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| To part his shining locks, and say, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Just such another boy was he!" | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And never felt he greater pride, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And never did he look so gay, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As when the little urchins strove | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To make him partner in their play. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But when, in some more gentle mood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They silent hung upon his arm, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or nestled close at ev'ning pray'r, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The old man felt a softer charm; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And upward rais'd his closing eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whence slow effus'd a grateful tear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As if his senses own'd a joy, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Too holy for endurance here. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| No heart e'er pray'd so fervently, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Unprompted by an earthly zeal, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| None ever knew such tenderness, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| That did not true devotion feel. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| As with the pure, uncolour'd flame, | 8 | ········ |
| The violet's richest blues unite, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/· |
| Do our affections soar to heav'n, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And rarify and beam with light. | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.