The Mother
"And beats my heart again with joy!And dances now my spirit light!The skiff that holds my darling boyThis moment burst upon my sight!
"Not yet distinctly I perceiveAmid the crew his well-known form,But still his safety I believe,I know he has escap'd the storm.
"I feel as if my heart had wings,And tender from excess of bliss,His form, which airy fancy brings,In fond emotion seem to kiss.
"Welcome the wild, imperfect rest,Which these bewilder'd spirits share!Welcome this tumult of the breast,After the shudder of despair!
"My Robert he is brave and strong,He will these flowing tears reprove.Alas! how little know the young,The tremor of a Mother's love.
"For we are weak from many a care,From many a sleepless, anxious hour,When fear and hope the bosom tear,And ride the brain with fevering power.
"But lo! he cheerly waves his hand!I hear his voice! I see his face!And eager now he springs to land,To meet a Mother's fond embrace!
"This failing heart! but joy to me,If heaven in pity is thy guard;And of the pangs I feel for thee,Protection be the dear reward!"
Words in this poem
- skiff n.
- A small, light boat. [F. esquif, fr. OHG. skif, G. schiff. See Ship.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- sleepless a.
- Having no sleep; wakeful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Mother 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 Mother, in Poems (1808), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9998, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/betham-poems/the-mother.html, id L23535.
Form and metre
The Mother is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 ABAB joyA · lightB · boyA · sightB
- 2 ABAB perceiveA · formB · believeA · stormB
- 3 ABAB wingsA · blissB · bringsA · kissB
- 4 ABAB restA · shareB · breastA · despairB
- 6 ABAB careA · hourB · tearA · powerB
- 7 ABAB handA · faceB · landA · embraceB
- 8 A-A- meA · guard · theeA · reward
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "And beats my heart again with joy! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And dances now my spirit light! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The skiff that holds my darling boy | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This moment burst upon my sight! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Not yet distinctly I perceive | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Amid the crew his well-known form, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| But still his safety I believe, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I know he has escap'd the storm. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| "I feel as if my heart had wings, | 8 | ········ |
| And tender from excess of bliss, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| His form, which airy fancy brings, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In fond emotion seem to kiss. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| "Welcome the wild, imperfect rest, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Which these bewilder'd spirits share! | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Welcome this tumult of the breast, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| After the shudder of despair! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "My Robert he is brave and strong, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He will these flowing tears reprove. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Alas! how little know the young, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| The tremor of a Mother's love. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "For we are weak from many a care, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| From many a sleepless, anxious hour, | 9 | ·/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| When fear and hope the bosom tear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ride the brain with fevering power. | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| "But lo! he cheerly waves his hand! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I hear his voice! I see his face! | 8 | ········ |
| And eager now he springs to land, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To meet a Mother's fond embrace! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "This failing heart! but joy to me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| If heaven in pity is thy guard; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| And of the pangs I feel for thee, | 8 | ········ |
| Protection be the dear reward!" | 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.