Stanzas
If thou be in a lonely place,If one hour's calm be thine,As Evening bends her placid faceO'er this sweet day's decline;If all the earth and all the heavenNow look serene to thee,As o'er them shuts the summer even,One moment--think of me!
Pause, in the lane, returning home;'Tis dusk, it will be still:Pause near the elm, a sacred gloomIts breezeless boughs will fill.Look at that soft and golden light,High in the unclouded sky;Watch the last bird's belated flight,As it flits silent by.
Hark! for a sound upon the wind,A step, a voice, a sigh;If all be still, then yield thy mind,Unchecked, to memory.If thy love were like mine, how blestThat twilight hour would seem,When, back from the regretted Past,Returned our early dream!
If thy love were like mine, how wildThy longings, even to pain,For sunset soft, and moonlight mild,To bring that hour again!But oft, when in thine arms I lay,I've seen thy dark eyes shine,And deeply felt their changeful raySpoke other love than mine.
My love is almost anguish now,It beats so strong and true;'Twere rapture, could I deem that thouSuch anguish ever knew.I have been but thy transient flower,Thou wert my god divine;Till checked by death's congealing power,This heart must throb for thine.
And well my dying hour were blest,If life's expiring breathShould pass, as thy lips gently prestMy forehead cold in death;And sound my sleep would be, and sweet,Beneath the churchyard tree,If sometimes in thy heart should beatOne pulse, still true to me.
Words in this poem
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- breezeless a.
- Motionless; destitute of breezes.
- belated a.
- Delayed beyond the usual time; too late; overtaken by night; benighted.
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- expiring a.
- Breathing out air from the lungs; emitting fluid or volatile matter; exhaling; breathing the last breath; dying; ending; terminating.
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- churchyard n.
- The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas 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, Stanzas, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/stanzas.html, id L13226.
Form and metre
Stanzas is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 3 of its 6 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 7.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 ABABBCBC placeA · thineB · faceA · declineB · heavenB · theeC · evenB · meC
- 2 -A-ABCBC home · stillA · gloom · fillA · lightB · skyC · flightB · byC
- 3 A-A--B-B windA · sigh · mindA · memory · blest · seemB · past · dreamB
- 4 ABABCDCD wildA · painB · mildA · againB · layC · shineD · rayC · mineD
- 5 ABABCDCD nowA · trueB · thouA · knewB · flowerC · divineD · powerC · thineD
- 6 ABABCDCD blestA · breathB · prestA · deathB · sweetC · treeD · beatC · meD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If thou be in a lonely place, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If one hour's calm be thine, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As Evening bends her placid face | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O'er this sweet day's decline; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If all the earth and all the heaven | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Now look serene to thee, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| As o'er them shuts the summer even, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| One moment--think of me! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Pause, in the lane, returning home; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| 'Tis dusk, it will be still: | 6 | ······ |
| Pause near the elm, a sacred gloom | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its breezeless boughs will fill. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Look at that soft and golden light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| High in the unclouded sky; | 7 | ······· |
| Watch the last bird's belated flight, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| As it flits silent by. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Hark! for a sound upon the wind, | 8 | ········ |
| A step, a voice, a sigh; | 6 | ······ |
| If all be still, then yield thy mind, | 8 | ········ |
| Unchecked, to memory. | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| If thy love were like mine, how blest | 8 | ········ |
| That twilight hour would seem, | 7 | ·/·/˘·· |
| When, back from the regretted Past, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Returned our early dream! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| If thy love were like mine, how wild | 8 | ········ |
| Thy longings, even to pain, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| For sunset soft, and moonlight mild, | 8 | ·/···/·· |
| To bring that hour again! | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| But oft, when in thine arms I lay, | 8 | ········ |
| I've seen thy dark eyes shine, | 6 | ······ |
| And deeply felt their changeful ray | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Spoke other love than mine. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My love is almost anguish now, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| It beats so strong and true; | 6 | ······ |
| 'Twere rapture, could I deem that thou | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Such anguish ever knew. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I have been but thy transient flower, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Thou wert my god divine; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Till checked by death's congealing power, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| This heart must throb for thine. | 6 | ······ |
| And well my dying hour were blest, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| If life's expiring breath | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Should pass, as thy lips gently prest | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My forehead cold in death; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And sound my sleep would be, and sweet, | 8 | ········ |
| Beneath the churchyard tree, | 6 | ···/·· |
| If sometimes in thy heart should beat | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| One pulse, still true to me. | 6 | ······ |
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.