A Letter
Dear brother, would you know the life,Please God, that I would lead?On the first wheels that quit this weary townOver yon western bridges I would rideAnd with a cheerful benison forsakeEach street and spire and roof, incontinent.Then would I seek where God might guide my steps,Deep in a woodland tract, a sunny farm,Amid the mountain counties, Hants, Franklin, Berks,Where down the rock ravine a river roars,Even from a brook, and where old woodsNot tamed and cleared cumber the groundWith their centennial wrecks.Find me a slope where I can feel the sunAnd mark the rising of the early stars.There will I bring my books,--my household gods,The reliquaries of my dead saint, and dwellIn the sweet odor of her memory.Then in the uncouth solitude unlockMy stock of art, plant dials in the grass,Hang in the air a bright thermometerAnd aim a telescope at the inviolate sun.
Words in this poem
- benison n.
- Blessing; beatitude; benediction. [OE. beneysun, benesoun, OF. beneï, beneïson, fr. L. benedictio, fr. benedicere to bless; bene (adv. of bonus good) + dicere to say. See Bounty, and Diction, and]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- 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]
- franklin n.
- An English freeholder, or substantial householder. [OE. frankelein; cf. LL. franchilanus. See Frank, a.]
- cumber n.
- Trouble; embarrassment; distress. [Cf. encombre hindrance, impediment. See Cuber,v.]
- centennial a.
- Relating to, or associated with, the commemoration of an event that happened a hundred years before; as, a centennial ode. [L. centum a hundred + annus year.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- unlock v. t.
- To unfasten, as what is locked; as, to unlock a door or a chest. [Cf. AS. unl. See 1st Un-, and Lock, v. t.]
- inviolate a.
- Not violated; uninjured; unhurt; unbroken. [L. inviolatus. See In- not, and Violate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Letter is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, A Letter, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/a-letter.html, id L07588.
Form and metre
A Letter is 22 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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 -------------A-------A life · lead · town · ride · forsake · incontinent · steps · farm · berks · roars · woods · ground · wrecks · sunA · stars · gods · dwell · memory · unlock · grass · thermometer · sunA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dear brother, would you know the life, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Please God, that I would lead? | 6 | ······ |
| On the first wheels that quit this weary town | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Over yon western bridges I would ride | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| And with a cheerful benison forsake | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Each street and spire and roof, incontinent. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Then would I seek where God might guide my steps, | 10 | ·········· |
| Deep in a woodland tract, a sunny farm, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Amid the mountain counties, Hants, Franklin, Berks, | 11 | ˘/·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Where down the rock ravine a river roars, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Even from a brook, and where old woods | 8 | /······· |
| Not tamed and cleared cumber the ground | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| With their centennial wrecks. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Find me a slope where I can feel the sun | 10 | ·········· |
| And mark the rising of the early stars. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There will I bring my books,--my household gods, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| The reliquaries of my dead saint, and dwell | 10 | ·········· |
| In the sweet odor of her memory. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Then in the uncouth solitude unlock | 10 | ···///˘·˘/ |
| My stock of art, plant dials in the grass, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Hang in the air a bright thermometer | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And aim a telescope at the inviolate sun. | 12 | ···/˘···˘/˘· |
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.