The Penitent
I mourn with thee, and yet rejoiceThat thou shouldst sorrow so;With angel choirs I join my voiceTo bless the sinner's woe.
Though friends and kindred turn away,And laugh thy grief to scorn;I hear the great Redeemer say,"Blessed are ye that mourn."
Hold on thy course, nor deem it strangeThat earthly cords are riven:Man may lament the wondrous change,But "there is joy in heaven!"
Words in this poem
- redeemer n.
- One who redeems.
- 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]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Penitent 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, The Penitent, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/the-penitent.html, id L13255.
Form and metre
The Penitent is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 rejoiceA · soB · voiceA · woeB
- 2 ABAB awayA · scornB · sayA · mournB
- 3 A-A- strangeA · riven · changeA · heaven
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I mourn with thee, and yet rejoice | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That thou shouldst sorrow so; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With angel choirs I join my voice | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To bless the sinner's woe. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Though friends and kindred turn away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And laugh thy grief to scorn; | 6 | ······ |
| I hear the great Redeemer say, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| "Blessed are ye that mourn." | 5 | ····· |
| Hold on thy course, nor deem it strange | 8 | ········ |
| That earthly cords are riven: | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Man may lament the wondrous change, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| But "there is joy in heaven!" | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.