Lines Written on Leaving New Rochelle
Whene'er thy wandering footstep bendsIts pathway to the Hermit tree,Among its cordial band of friends,Sweet Mary! wilt thou number me?
Though all too few the hours have roll'dThat saw the stranger linger here,In memory's volume let them holdOne little spot to friendship dear.
I oft have thought how sweet 'twould beTo steal the bird of Eden's art;And leave behind a trace of meOn every kind and friendly heart,
And like the breeze in fragrance rolled,To gather as I wander by,From every soul of kindred mould,Some touch of cordial sympathy.
'Tis the best charm in life's dull dream,To feel that yet there linger hereBright eyes that look with fond esteem,And feeling hearts that hold me dear.
Words in this poem
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines Written on Leaving New Rochelle is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Culprit Fay, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #317; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Joseph Rodman Drake, Lines Written on Leaving New Rochelle, in The Culprit Fay and Other Poems (1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #317, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drake-culprit-fay/lines-written-on-leaving-new-rochelle.html, id L10282.
Form and metre
Lines Written on Leaving New Rochelle is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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 bendsA · treeB · friendsA · meB
- 2 ABAB roll'dA · hereB · holdA · dearB
- 3 ABAB beA · artB · meA · heartB
- 4 A-A- rolledA · by · mouldA · sympathy
- 5 ABAB dreamA · hereB · esteemA · dearB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whene'er thy wandering footstep bends | 10 | ····/˘˘/·· |
| Its pathway to the Hermit tree, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Among its cordial band of friends, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sweet Mary! wilt thou number me? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though all too few the hours have roll'd | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That saw the stranger linger here, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In memory's volume let them hold | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| One little spot to friendship dear. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I oft have thought how sweet 'twould be | 8 | ········ |
| To steal the bird of Eden's art; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And leave behind a trace of me | 8 | ········ |
| On every kind and friendly heart, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| And like the breeze in fragrance rolled, | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| To gather as I wander by, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From every soul of kindred mould, | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘· |
| Some touch of cordial sympathy. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| 'Tis the best charm in life's dull dream, | 8 | ········ |
| To feel that yet there linger here | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bright eyes that look with fond esteem, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And feeling hearts that hold me dear. | 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.