Plead for Me
Oh, thy bright eyes must answer now,When Reason, with a scornful brow,Is mocking at my overthrow!Oh, thy sweet tongue must plead for meAnd tell why I have chosen thee!
Stern Reason is to judgment come,Arrayed in all her forms of gloom:Wilt thou, my advocate, be dumb?No, radiant angel, speak and say,Why I did cast the world away.
Why I have persevered to shunThe common paths that others run;And on a strange road journeyed on,Heedless, alike of wealth and power--Of glory's wreath and pleasure's flower.
These, once, indeed, seemed Beings Divine;And they, perchance, heard vows of mine,And saw my offerings on their shrine;But careless gifts are seldom prized,And MINE were worthily despised.
So, with a ready heart, I sworeTo seek their altar-stone no more;And gave my spirit to adoreThee, ever-present, phantom thing--My slave, my comrade, and my king.
A slave, because I rule thee still;Incline thee to my changeful will,And make thy influence good or ill:A comrade, for by day and nightThou art my intimate delight,--
My darling pain that wounds and sears,And wrings a blessing out from tearsBy deadening me to earthly cares;And yet, a king, though Prudence wellHave taught thy subject to rebel
And am I wrong to worship whereFaith cannot doubt, nor hope despair,Since my own soul can grant my prayer?Speak, God of visions, plead for me,And tell why I have chosen thee!
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- worthily adv.
- In a worthy manner; excellently; deservedly; according to merit; justly; suitably; becomingly.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Plead for Me 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, Plead for Me, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/plead-for-me.html, id L18594.
Form and metre
Plead for Me is 40 lines in 8 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% 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 AA-BB nowA · browA · overthrow · meB · theeB
- 2 A-ABB comeA · gloom · dumbA · sayB · awayB
- 3 AA-BB shunA · runA · on · powerB · flowerB
- 4 AAABB divineA · mineA · shrineA · prizedB · despisedB
- 5 AAABB sworeA · moreA · adoreA · thingB · kingB
- 6 AAABB stillA · willA · illA · nightB · delightB
- 7 AAABB searsA · tearsA · caresA · wellB · rebelB
- 8 AAABB whereA · despairA · prayerA · meB · theeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, thy bright eyes must answer now, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When Reason, with a scornful brow, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is mocking at my overthrow! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Oh, thy sweet tongue must plead for me | 8 | ········ |
| And tell why I have chosen thee! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Stern Reason is to judgment come, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Arrayed in all her forms of gloom: | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Wilt thou, my advocate, be dumb? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No, radiant angel, speak and say, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Why I did cast the world away. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Why I have persevered to shun | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The common paths that others run; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And on a strange road journeyed on, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Heedless, alike of wealth and power-- | 9 | /˘˘/···/˘ |
| Of glory's wreath and pleasure's flower. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| These, once, indeed, seemed Beings Divine; | 9 | ··˘/·/˘˘/ |
| And they, perchance, heard vows of mine, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And saw my offerings on their shrine; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But careless gifts are seldom prized, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And MINE were worthily despised. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| So, with a ready heart, I swore | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To seek their altar-stone no more; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And gave my spirit to adore | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Thee, ever-present, phantom thing-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| My slave, my comrade, and my king. | 8 | ···/···· |
| A slave, because I rule thee still; | 8 | ········ |
| Incline thee to my changeful will, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And make thy influence good or ill: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A comrade, for by day and night | 8 | ·/······ |
| Thou art my intimate delight,-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| My darling pain that wounds and sears, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And wrings a blessing out from tears | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By deadening me to earthly cares; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And yet, a king, though Prudence well | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Have taught thy subject to rebel | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| And am I wrong to worship where | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Faith cannot doubt, nor hope despair, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Since my own soul can grant my prayer? | 8 | ········ |
| Speak, God of visions, plead for me, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And tell why I have chosen thee! | 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.