Evening Solace
The human heart has hidden treasures,In secret kept, in silence sealed;--The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,Whose charms were broken if revealed.And days may pass in gay confusion,And nights in rosy riot fly,While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,The memory of the Past may die.
But there are hours of lonely musing,Such as in evening silence come,When, soft as birds their pinions closing,The heart's best feelings gather home.Then in our souls there seems to languishA tender grief that is not woe;And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguishNow cause but some mild tears to flow.
And feelings, once as strong as passions,Float softly back--a faded dream;Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,The tale of others' sufferings seem.Oh! when the heart is freshly bleeding,How longs it for that time to be,When, through the mist of years receding,Its woes but live in reverie!
And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,On evening shade and loneliness;And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,Feel no untold and strange distress--Only a deeper impulse givenBy lonely hour and darkened room,To solemn thoughts that soar to heavenSeeking a life and world to come.
Words in this poem
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- reverie n.
- A loose or irregular train of thought occurring in musing or mediation; deep musing; daydream. [F. réverie, fr. rêver to dream, rave, be light-headed. Cf. Rave.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Evening Solace is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Evening Solace, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/evening-solace.html, id L13225.
Form and metre
Evening Solace is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 18 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCDCD treasuresA · sealedB · pleasuresA · revealedB · confusionC · flyD · illusionC · dieD
- 2 -A-ABCBC musing · comeA · closing · homeA · languishB · woeC · anguishB · flowC
- 3 -A-AB-B- passions · dreamA · sensations · seemA · bleedingB · be · recedingB · reverie
- 4 ABAB---- glimmerA · lonelinessB · dimmerA · distressB · given · room · heaven · come
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The human heart has hidden treasures, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In secret kept, in silence sealed;-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Whose charms were broken if revealed. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And days may pass in gay confusion, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And nights in rosy riot fly, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| The memory of the Past may die. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But there are hours of lonely musing, | 9 | ···/·/˘/˘ |
| Such as in evening silence come, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When, soft as birds their pinions closing, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The heart's best feelings gather home. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Then in our souls there seems to languish | 9 | ··/····/˘ |
| A tender grief that is not woe; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Now cause but some mild tears to flow. | 8 | ········ |
| And feelings, once as strong as passions, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Float softly back--a faded dream; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations, | 9 | /·····˘/˘ |
| The tale of others' sufferings seem. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Oh! when the heart is freshly bleeding, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| How longs it for that time to be, | 8 | ········ |
| When, through the mist of years receding, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Its woes but live in reverie! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer, | 9 | ·····/·/˘ |
| On evening shade and loneliness; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Feel no untold and strange distress-- | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Only a deeper impulse given | 9 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘ |
| By lonely hour and darkened room, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Seeking a life and world to come. | 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.