The Portrait of a Grandfather
With mild eyes agaze, and lips ready to speak,Whereon the yearning of love, the warning of wisdom plays,One portrait ever charms me and teaches me when I seek:It is of him whom I, remembering my young days,Imagine fathering my father; when he, in sonship afore,Liv'd honouring and obeying the eyes now pictur'd agaze,The lips ready to speak, that promise but speak no more.
O high parental claim, that were not but for the knowing,O fateful bond of duty, O more than body that bore,The smile that guides me to right, the gaze that follows my going,How had I stray'd without thee! and yet how few will seekThe spirit-hands, that heaven, in tender-free bestowing,Holds to her children, to guide the wandering and aid the weak.
And Thee! ah what of thee, thou lover of men? if trulyA painter had stell'd thee there, with thy lips ready to speak,In all-fathering passion to souls enchanted newly,--Tenderer call than of sire to son, or of lover to maiden,--Ever ready to speak to us, if we will hearken duly,'Come, O come unto me, ye weary and heavy-laden!'
Words in this poem
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- sonship n.
- The state of being a son, or of bearing the relation of a son; filiation. Dr. H. More.
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- parental a.
- Of or pertaining to a parent or to parents; as, parental authority; parental obligations. [L. parentalis.]
- fateful a.
- Having the power of serving or accomplishing fate.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Portrait of a Grandfather is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Excluding the Eight Dramas, Project Gutenberg ebook #37804; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bridges, The Portrait of a Grandfather, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/the-portrait-of-a-grandfather.html, id L01835.
Form and metre
The Portrait of a Grandfather is 19 lines in 3 stanzas. 72% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.5 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-BC speakA · playsB · seekA · daysB · afore · agazeB · moreC
- 2 DCDEDE knowingD · boreC · goingD · seekE · bestowingD · weakE
- 3 FEFGFG trulyF · speakE · newlyF · maidenG · dulyF · ladenG
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| With mild eyes agaze, and lips ready to speak, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Whereon the yearning of love, the warning of wisdom plays, | 14 | ˘/·/˘···/˘·/˘· |
| One portrait ever charms me and teaches me when I seek: | 13 | ·/˘/···/˘···· |
| It is of him whom I, remembering my young days, | 12 | ······˘/˘··· |
| Imagine fathering my father; when he, in sonship afore, | 15 | ˘/˘/˘·/˘···/˘˘/ |
| Liv'd honouring and obeying the eyes now pictur'd agaze, | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘···/˘·· |
| The lips ready to speak, that promise but speak no more. | 13 | ··/˘···/˘···· |
| O high parental claim, that were not but for the knowing, | 13 | ··˘/˘·······/ |
| O fateful bond of duty, O more than body that bore, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘···/˘·· |
| The smile that guides me to right, the gaze that follows my going, | 14 | ··········/˘·/ |
| How had I stray'd without thee! and yet how few will seek | 13 | ············· |
| The spirit-hands, that heaven, in tender-free bestowing, | 12 | ·/··/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Holds to her children, to guide the wandering and aid the weak. | 14 | ···/˘···/˘···· |
| And Thee! ah what of thee, thou lover of men? if truly | 14 | ·······/˘···/˘ |
| A painter had stell'd thee there, with thy lips ready to speak, | 14 | ·/˘·······/˘·· |
| In all-fathering passion to souls enchanted newly, | 13 | ··/˘/˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| --Tenderer call than of sire to son, or of lover to maiden,-- | 16 | ······/····/˘·/˘ |
| Ever ready to speak to us, if we will hearken duly, | 14 | //˘·······/˘/˘ |
| 'Come, O come unto me, ye weary and heavy-laden!' | 14 | ·······/˘·/˘/˘ |
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.