Alone

iambic trimeter · ABABA · 35 lines · from Poems

Loved, wedded, and caressed,Although her children diedShe still seemed doubly blest,Her helpmate at her sideMore dear than all the rest!

But sorrow did not killThe thought of those so dear,Who all her feelings fill,As though still with her hereTo play about her still.

Her little children’s fateShe never could recall,Yet lived she desolate,For she had lost them all,—And then she lost her mate.

When came that hour of woeAnd all she loved was gone,Not sorrow’s keenest blowLeft her fond heart alone;No parting could it know.

Nigh her he still appears,The early times so cling;Her simple heart still hearsHer children laugh and singAs in the happy years.

The dead to her remain;She heeds each gentle soundOf theirs within her brain,And answers smiling round:‘Sweet love, say that again!’

Is it that angels dwellIn that lone mother’s breast?She knows not what befell,And so is doubly blest:No more her heart can tell.

Words in this poem

wedded a.: Joined in wedlock; married.
helpmate n.: A helper; a companion; specifically, a wife. [A corruption of the "help meet for him" of Genesis ii. 18.Fitzedward Hall.]
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]
lone n.: A lane. See Loanin.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Alone is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poems of Thomas Gordon Hake, Project Gutenberg ebook #78947; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Thomas Gordon Hake, Alone, in Poems (1870), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #78947, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hake-poems/alone.html, id L23596.

Form and metre

Alone is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABA, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).

See other poems in iambic trimeter.

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 ABABA caressed^A · died^B · blest^A · side^B · rest^A
2 ABABA kill^A · dear^B · fill^A · here^B · still^A
3 ABABA fate^A · recall^B · desolate^A · all^B · mate^A
4 A-A-A woe^A · gone · blow^A · alone · know^A
5 ABABA appears^A · cling^B · hears^A · sing^B · years^A
6 ABABA remain^A · sound^B · brain^A · round^B · again^A
7 ABABA dwell^A · breast^B · befell^A · blest^B · tell^A

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Loved, wedded, and caressed,	6	·/˘·˘/
Although her children died	6	···/˘·
She still seemed doubly blest,	6	···/˘·
Her helpmate at her side	6	·/˘···
More dear than all the rest!	6	······
But sorrow did not kill	6	·/˘···
The thought of those so dear,	6	······
Who all her feelings fill,	6	···/˘·
As though still with her here	6	······
To play about her still.	6	······
Her little children’s fate	6	·/˘/˘·
She never could recall,	6	·/˘·˘/
Yet lived she desolate,	6	···/˘·
For she had lost them all,—	6	······
And then she lost her mate.	6	······
When came that hour of woe	6	···/··
And all she loved was gone,	6	······
Not sorrow’s keenest blow	6	·/˘/˘·
Left her fond heart alone;	6	····˘/
No parting could it know.	6	·/˘···
Nigh her he still appears,	6	····˘/
The early times so cling;	6	·/˘···
Her simple heart still hears	6	·/˘···
Her children laugh and sing	6	·/˘···
As in the happy years.	6	···/˘·
The dead to her remain;	6	····˘/
She heeds each gentle sound	6	···/˘·
Of theirs within her brain,	6	······
And answers smiling round:	6	·/˘/˘·
‘Sweet love, say that again!’	6	····˘/
Is it that angels dwell	6	···/˘·
In that lone mother’s breast?	6	···/˘·
She knows not what befell,	6	····˘/
And so is doubly blest:	6	···/˘·
No more her heart can tell.	6	······

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