A Presentiment
"Oh father, let us hence--for hark,A fearful murmur shakes the air.The clouds are coming swift and dark:--What horrid shapes they wear!A winged giant sails the sky;Oh father, father, let us fly!"
"Hush, child; it is a grateful sound,That beating of the summer shower;Here, where the boughs hang close around,We'll pass a pleasant hour,Till the fresh wind, that brings the rain,Has swept the broad heaven clear again."
"Nay, father, let us haste--for see,That horrid thing with horned brow,--His wings o'erhang this very tree,He scowls upon us now;His huge black arm is lifted high;Oh father, father, let us fly!"
"Hush, child;" but, as the father spoke,Downward the livid firebolt came,Close to his ear the thunder broke,And, blasted by the flame,The child lay dead; while dark and still,Swept the grim cloud along the hill.
Words in this poem
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- 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.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- blasted a.
- Blighted; withered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Presentiment is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, A Presentiment, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/a-presentiment.html, id L07351.
Form and metre
A Presentiment is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABABCC harkA · airB · darkA · wearB · skyC · flyC
- 2 ABABCC soundA · showerB · aroundA · hourB · rainC · againC
- 3 ABABCC seeA · browB · treeA · nowB · highC · flyC
- 4 ABABCC spokeA · cameB · brokeA · flameB · stillC · hillC
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 father, let us hence--for hark, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A fearful murmur shakes the air. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The clouds are coming swift and dark:-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What horrid shapes they wear! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A winged giant sails the sky; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Oh father, father, let us fly!" | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Hush, child; it is a grateful sound, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That beating of the summer shower; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Here, where the boughs hang close around, | 8 | ········ |
| We'll pass a pleasant hour, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Till the fresh wind, that brings the rain, | 8 | ········ |
| Has swept the broad heaven clear again." | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| "Nay, father, let us haste--for see, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That horrid thing with horned brow,-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| His wings o'erhang this very tree, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He scowls upon us now; | 6 | ······ |
| His huge black arm is lifted high; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oh father, father, let us fly!" | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Hush, child;" but, as the father spoke, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Downward the livid firebolt came, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Close to his ear the thunder broke, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And, blasted by the flame, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The child lay dead; while dark and still, | 8 | ········ |
| Swept the grim cloud along the hill. | 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.