How Clear She Shines
How clear she shines! How quietlyI lie beneath her guardian light;While heaven and earth are whispering me,"To morrow, wake, but dream to-night."Yes, Fancy, come, my Fairy love!These throbbing temples softly kiss;And bend my lonely couch above,And bring me rest, and bring me bliss.
The world is going; dark world, adieu!Grim world, conceal thee till the day;The heart thou canst not all subdueMust still resist, if thou delay!
Thy love I will not, will not share;Thy hatred only wakes a smile;Thy griefs may wound--thy wrongs may tear,But, oh, thy lies shall ne'er beguile!While gazing on the stars that glowAbove me, in that stormless sea,I long to hope that all the woeCreation knows, is held in thee!
And this shall be my dream to-night;I'll think the heaven of glorious spheresIs rolling on its course of lightIn endless bliss, through endless years;I'll think, there's not one world above,Far as these straining eyes can see,Where Wisdom ever laughed at Love,Or Virtue crouched to Infamy;
Where, writhing 'neath the strokes of Fate,The mangled wretch was forced to smile;To match his patience 'gainst her hate,His heart rebellious all the while.Where Pleasure still will lead to wrong,And helpless Reason warn in vain;And Truth is weak, and Treachery strong;And Joy the surest path to Pain;And Peace, the lethargy of Grief;And Hope, a phantom of the soul;And life, a labour, void and brief;And Death, the despot of the whole!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- stormless a.
- Without storms.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- crouched a.
- Marked with the sign of the cross. Crouched friar. See Crutched friar, under Crutched.
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- lethargy n.
- Morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked. [F. léthargie, L. letgargia, Gr. Lethe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How Clear She Shines 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, How Clear She Shines, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/how-clear-she-shines.html, id L13242.
Form and metre
How Clear She Shines is 40 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-ABCBC quietly · lightA · me · nightA · loveB · kissC · aboveB · blissC
- 2 ABAB adieuA · dayB · subdueA · delayB
- 3 ABABCDCD shareA · smileB · tearA · beguileB · glowC · seaD · woeC · theeD
- 4 ABABC-C- nightA · spheresB · lightA · yearsB · aboveC · see · loveC · infamy
- 5 ABABCDCDEFEF fateA · smileB · hateA · whileB · wrongC · vainD · strongC · painD · griefE · soulF · briefE · wholeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How clear she shines! How quietly | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I lie beneath her guardian light; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| While heaven and earth are whispering me, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| "To morrow, wake, but dream to-night." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yes, Fancy, come, my Fairy love! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| These throbbing temples softly kiss; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And bend my lonely couch above, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And bring me rest, and bring me bliss. | 8 | ········ |
| The world is going; dark world, adieu! | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| Grim world, conceal thee till the day; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The heart thou canst not all subdue | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Must still resist, if thou delay! | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Thy love I will not, will not share; | 8 | ········ |
| Thy hatred only wakes a smile; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thy griefs may wound--thy wrongs may tear, | 8 | ········ |
| But, oh, thy lies shall ne'er beguile! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| While gazing on the stars that glow | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Above me, in that stormless sea, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I long to hope that all the woe | 8 | ········ |
| Creation knows, is held in thee! | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And this shall be my dream to-night; | 8 | ········ |
| I'll think the heaven of glorious spheres | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Is rolling on its course of light | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In endless bliss, through endless years; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I'll think, there's not one world above, | 8 | ········ |
| Far as these straining eyes can see, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where Wisdom ever laughed at Love, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or Virtue crouched to Infamy; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Where, writhing 'neath the strokes of Fate, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The mangled wretch was forced to smile; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To match his patience 'gainst her hate, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His heart rebellious all the while. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Where Pleasure still will lead to wrong, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And helpless Reason warn in vain; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Truth is weak, and Treachery strong; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Joy the surest path to Pain; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And Peace, the lethargy of Grief; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And Hope, a phantom of the soul; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And life, a labour, void and brief; | 8 | ···/···· |
| And Death, the despot of the whole! | 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.