Bereavement
Whose was that gentle voice, that, whispering sweet,Promised methought long days of bliss sincere!Soothing it stole on my deluded ear,Most like soft music, that might sometimes cheatThoughts dark and drooping! 'Twas the voice of Hope.Of love, and social scenes, it seemed to speak,Of truth, of friendship, of affection meek;That, oh! poor friend, might to life's downward slopeLead us in peace, and bless our latest hours.Ah me! the prospect saddened as she sung;Loud on my startled ear the death-bell rung;Chill darkness wrapt the pleasurable bowers,Whilst Horror, pointing to yon breathless clay,"No peace be thine," exclaimed, "away, away!"
Words in this poem
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- pleasurable a.
- Capable of affording pleasure or satisfaction; gratifying; abounding in pleasantness or pleasantry.
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bereavement is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan, Project Gutenberg ebook #18915; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Lisle Bowles, Bereavement, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/bereavement.html, id L09894.
Form and metre
Bereavement is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG sweetA · sincereB · earA · cheatB · hopeC · speakD · meekC · slopeD · hoursE · sungF · rungE · bowersF · clayG · awayG
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Whose was that gentle voice, that, whispering sweet, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Promised methought long days of bliss sincere! | 10 | /˘˘/····˘/ |
| Soothing it stole on my deluded ear, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Most like soft music, that might sometimes cheat | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Thoughts dark and drooping! 'Twas the voice of Hope. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of love, and social scenes, it seemed to speak, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of truth, of friendship, of affection meek; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| That, oh! poor friend, might to life's downward slope | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lead us in peace, and bless our latest hours. | 11 | ······//˘/˘ |
| Ah me! the prospect saddened as she sung; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Loud on my startled ear the death-bell rung; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Chill darkness wrapt the pleasurable bowers, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Whilst Horror, pointing to yon breathless clay, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| "No peace be thine," exclaimed, "away, away!" | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘/ |
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.