Selections from Poems by Ellis Bell I
A LITTLE while, a little while,The weary task is put away,And I can sing and I can smile,Alike, while I have holiday.
Where wilt thou go, my harassed heart--What thought, what scene invites thee nowWhat spot, or near or far apart,Has rest for thee, my weary brow?
There is a spot, 'mid barren hills,Where winter howls, and driving rain;But, if the dreary tempest chills,There is a light that warms again.
The house is old, the trees are bare,Moonless above bends twilight's dome;But what on earth is half so dear--So longed for--as the hearth of home?
The mute bird sitting on the stone,The dank moss dripping from the wall,The thorn-trees gaunt, the walks o'ergrown,I love them--how I love them all!
Still, as I mused, the naked room,The alien firelight died away;And from the midst of cheerless gloom,I passed to bright, unclouded day.
A little and a lone green laneThat opened on a common wide;A distant, dreamy, dim blue chainOf mountains circling every side.
A heaven so clear, an earth so calm,So sweet, so soft, so hushed an air;And, deepening still the dream-like charm,Wild moor-sheep feeding everywhere.
THAT was the scene, I knew it well;I knew the turfy pathway's sweep,That, winding o'er each billowy swell,Marked out the tracks of wandering sheep.
Could I have lingered but an hour,It well had paid a week of toil;But Truth has banished Fancy's power:Restraint and heavy task recoil.
Even as I stood with raptured eye,Absorbed in bliss so deep and dear,My hour of rest had fleeted by,And back came labour, bondage, care.
Words in this poem
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- moonless a.
- Being without a moon or moonlight.
- dank n.
- Moisture; humidity; water.
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- billowy a.
- Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Selections from Poems by Ellis Bell I 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, Selections from Poems by Ellis Bell I, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/selections-from-poems-by-ellis-bell-i.html, id L13271.
Form and metre
Selections from Poems by Ellis Bell I is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% 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 ABAB whileA · awayB · smileA · holidayB
- 2 ABAB heartA · nowB · apartA · browB
- 3 ABAB hillsA · rainB · chillsA · againB
- 4 ABAB bareA · domeB · dearA · homeB
- 5 ABAB stoneA · wallB · o'ergrownA · allB
- 6 ABAB roomA · awayB · gloomA · dayB
- 7 ABAB laneA · wideB · chainA · sideB
- 8 -A-A calm · airA · charm · everywhereA
- 9 ABAB wellA · sweepB · swellA · sheepB
- 10 ABAB hourA · toilB · powerA · recoilB
- 11 ABAB eyeA · dearB · byA · careB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A LITTLE while, a little while, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The weary task is put away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And I can sing and I can smile, | 8 | ········ |
| Alike, while I have holiday. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Where wilt thou go, my harassed heart-- | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| What thought, what scene invites thee now | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| What spot, or near or far apart, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Has rest for thee, my weary brow? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There is a spot, 'mid barren hills, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where winter howls, and driving rain; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But, if the dreary tempest chills, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| There is a light that warms again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The house is old, the trees are bare, | 8 | ········ |
| Moonless above bends twilight's dome; | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| But what on earth is half so dear-- | 8 | ········ |
| So longed for--as the hearth of home? | 8 | ········ |
| The mute bird sitting on the stone, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The dank moss dripping from the wall, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The thorn-trees gaunt, the walks o'ergrown, | 8 | ········ |
| I love them--how I love them all! | 8 | ········ |
| Still, as I mused, the naked room, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The alien firelight died away; | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| And from the midst of cheerless gloom, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I passed to bright, unclouded day. | 8 | ········ |
| A little and a lone green lane | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That opened on a common wide; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A distant, dreamy, dim blue chain | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of mountains circling every side. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| A heaven so clear, an earth so calm, | 8 | ·/······ |
| So sweet, so soft, so hushed an air; | 8 | ········ |
| And, deepening still the dream-like charm, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wild moor-sheep feeding everywhere. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| THAT was the scene, I knew it well; | 8 | ········ |
| I knew the turfy pathway's sweep, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| That, winding o'er each billowy swell, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Marked out the tracks of wandering sheep. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Could I have lingered but an hour, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| It well had paid a week of toil; | 8 | ········ |
| But Truth has banished Fancy's power: | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Restraint and heavy task recoil. | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Even as I stood with raptured eye, | 8 | /····/˘· |
| Absorbed in bliss so deep and dear, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| My hour of rest had fleeted by, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And back came labour, bondage, care. | 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.