The Hunter's Vision
Upon a rock that, high and sheer,Rose from the mountain's breast,A weary hunter of the deerHad sat him down to rest,And bared to the soft summer airHis hot red brow and sweaty hair.
All dim in haze the mountains lay,With dimmer vales between;And rivers glimmered on their way,By forests faintly seen;While ever rose a murmuring sound,From brooks below and bees around.
He listened, till he seemed to hearA strain, so soft and low,That whether in the mind or earThe listener scarce might know.With such a tone, so sweet and mild,The watching mother lulls her child.
"Thou weary huntsman," thus it said,"Thou faint with toil and heat,The pleasant land of rest is spreadBefore thy very feet,And those whom thou wouldst gladly seeAre waiting there to welcome thee."
He looked, and 'twixt the earth and skyAmid the noontide haze,A shadowy region met his eye,And grew beneath his gaze,As if the vapours of the airHad gathered into shapes so fair.
Groves freshened as he looked, and flowersShowed bright on rocky bank,And fountains welled beneath the bowers,Where deer and pheasant drank.He saw the glittering streams, he heardThe rustling bough and twittering bird.
And friends--the dead--in boyhood dear,There lived and walked again,And there was one who many a yearWithin her grave had lain,A fair young girl, the hamlet's pride--His heart was breaking when she died:
Bounding, as was her wont, she cameRight towards his resting-place,And stretched her hand and called his nameWith that sweet smiling face.Forward with fixed and eager eyes,The hunter leaned in act to rise:
Forward he leaned, and headlong downPlunged from that craggy wall;He saw the rocks, steep, stern, and brown,An instant, in his fall;A frightful instant--and no more,The dream and life at once were o'er.
Words in this poem
- sweaty a.
- Moist with sweat; as, a sweaty skin; a sweaty garment.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- huntsman n.
- One who hunts, or who practices hunting.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- twittering n.
- The act of one who, or that which, twitters.
- boyhood n.
- The state of being a boy; the time during which one is a boy. [Boy + -hood.]
- frightful a.
- Full of fright; affrighted; frightened.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Hunter's Vision 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, The Hunter's Vision, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-hunter-s-vision.html, id L07349.
Form and metre
The Hunter's Vision is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% 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 ABABCC sheerA · breastB · deerA · restB · airC · hairC
- 2 ABABCC layA · betweenB · wayA · seenB · soundC · aroundC
- 3 ABABCC hearA · lowB · earA · knowB · mildC · childC
- 4 ABABCC saidA · heatB · spreadA · feetB · seeC · theeC
- 5 ABABCC skyA · hazeB · eyeA · gazeB · airC · fairC
- 6 ABABCC flowersA · bankB · bowersA · drankB · heardC · birdC
- 7 ABABCC dearA · againB · yearA · lainB · prideC · diedC
- 8 ABABCC cameA · placeB · nameA · faceB · eyesC · riseC
- 9 ABAB-- downA · wallB · brownA · fallB · more · o'er
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Upon a rock that, high and sheer, | 8 | ········ |
| Rose from the mountain's breast, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A weary hunter of the deer | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Had sat him down to rest, | 6 | ······ |
| And bared to the soft summer air | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His hot red brow and sweaty hair. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All dim in haze the mountains lay, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With dimmer vales between; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And rivers glimmered on their way, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| By forests faintly seen; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| While ever rose a murmuring sound, | 8 | ·/··/˘˘· |
| From brooks below and bees around. | 8 | ········ |
| He listened, till he seemed to hear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A strain, so soft and low, | 6 | ······ |
| That whether in the mind or ear | 8 | ········ |
| The listener scarce might know. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| With such a tone, so sweet and mild, | 8 | ········ |
| The watching mother lulls her child. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Thou weary huntsman," thus it said, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Thou faint with toil and heat, | 6 | ······ |
| The pleasant land of rest is spread | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Before thy very feet, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And those whom thou wouldst gladly see | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are waiting there to welcome thee." | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He looked, and 'twixt the earth and sky | 8 | ········ |
| Amid the noontide haze, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| A shadowy region met his eye, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And grew beneath his gaze, | 6 | ······ |
| As if the vapours of the air | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Had gathered into shapes so fair. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Groves freshened as he looked, and flowers | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Showed bright on rocky bank, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And fountains welled beneath the bowers, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Where deer and pheasant drank. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He saw the glittering streams, he heard | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The rustling bough and twittering bird. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| And friends--the dead--in boyhood dear, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| There lived and walked again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And there was one who many a year | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Within her grave had lain, | 6 | ······ |
| A fair young girl, the hamlet's pride-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His heart was breaking when she died: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Bounding, as was her wont, she came | 8 | /˘······ |
| Right towards his resting-place, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And stretched her hand and called his name | 8 | ········ |
| With that sweet smiling face. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Forward with fixed and eager eyes, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| The hunter leaned in act to rise: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Forward he leaned, and headlong down | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| Plunged from that craggy wall; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He saw the rocks, steep, stern, and brown, | 8 | ········ |
| An instant, in his fall; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A frightful instant--and no more, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The dream and life at once were o'er. | 8 | ········ |
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