Hamatreya
Bulkeley, Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint,Possessed the land which rendered to their toilHay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool and wood.Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm,Saying, ''Tis mine, my children's and my name's.How sweet the west wind sounds in my own trees!How graceful climb those shadows on my hill!I fancy these pure waters and the flagsKnow me, as does my dog: we sympathize;And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.'
Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boysEarth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feetClear of the grave.They added ridge to valley, brook to pond,And sighed for all that bounded their domain;'This suits me for a pasture; that's my park;We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge,And misty lowland, where to go for peat.The land is well,--lies fairly to the south.'Tis good, when you have crossed the sea and back,To find the sitfast acres where you left them.'Ah! the hot owner sees not Death, who addsHim to his land, a lump of mould the more.Hear what the Earth says:--
Words in this poem
- amidst 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]
- sympathize v. t.
- To experience together.
- lowland n.
- Land which is low with respect to the neighboring country; a low or level country; -- opposed to highland. The Lowlands, Belgium and Holland; the Netherlands; also, the southern part of Scotland.
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- sitfast a.
- Fixed; stationary; immovable. [Sit + fast.]
- 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
Hamatreya 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, Hamatreya, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/hamatreya.html, id L07392.
Form and metre
Hamatreya is 27 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. 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 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 18% 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 flint · toilA · wood · farm · name's · trees · hill · flags · sympathize · soilA
- 2 ----A-----A------ grounds · plough · boys · theirs · feetA · grave · pond · domain · park · ledge · peatA · south · back · them · adds · more · says
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bulkeley, Hunt, Willard, Hosmer, Meriam, Flint, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Possessed the land which rendered to their toil | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Hay, corn, roots, hemp, flax, apples, wool and wood. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Each of these landlords walked amidst his farm, | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| Saying, ''Tis mine, my children's and my name's. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| How sweet the west wind sounds in my own trees! | 10 | ·········· |
| How graceful climb those shadows on my hill! | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| I fancy these pure waters and the flags | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Know me, as does my dog: we sympathize; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And, I affirm, my actions smack of the soil.' | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds: | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs; | 10 | ·········· |
| Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Clear of the grave. | 4 | ···· |
| They added ridge to valley, brook to pond, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And sighed for all that bounded their domain; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| 'This suits me for a pasture; that's my park; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| We must have clay, lime, gravel, granite-ledge, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And misty lowland, where to go for peat. | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| The land is well,--lies fairly to the south. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| 'Tis good, when you have crossed the sea and back, | 10 | ·········· |
| To find the sitfast acres where you left them.' | 11 | ···/˘/˘···· |
| Ah! the hot owner sees not Death, who adds | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Him to his land, a lump of mould the more. | 10 | ·········· |
| Hear what the Earth says:-- | 5 | ····· |
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.