Declaration
Shadowing downward came dusky evening,Wildly the breakers rolled,I sat alone upon the shore and gazedAt the white dance of the waves.
And my bosom heaved with the sea,A deep homesickness yearningly seized my heartFor thee, oh lovely image,Who surround'st me everywhere,Who call'st to me everywhere,Everywhere, everywhere,In the rushing of the wind, in the dashing of the sea,And in the sighing of mine own breast.
With a slender reed I wrote upon the sand,"Agnes, I love thee!"But the wicked waves came overflowingThat sweet confession,And blotted it out.
Oh brittle reed! oh swiftly-scattered sand!Oh flowing waves, I trust you no more!The heavens grow darker, my heart beats more wildly,And with a mighty hand, from the Norwegian woods,I snatch the loftiest fir,And I plunge itInto Etna's glowing gulf;And, with such a fire-steeped giant's pen,I write on the dusky canopy of heaven,"Agnes, I love thee!"
Each night hereafter overhead shall blazeThose eternal letters of flame.And all future generations of our descendantsShall joyously read the celestial sign,"Agnes, I love thee!"
Words in this poem
- shadowing n.
- Shade, or gradation of light and color; shading. Feltham.
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- norwegian a.
- Of or pertaining to Norway, its inhabitants, or its language. [Cf. Icel. Noregr, Norvegr, Norway. See North, and Way.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Declaration is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, the Emma Lazarus translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Heinrich Heine, Declaration, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/declaration.html, id L15452.
Form and metre
Declaration is 32 lines in 5 stanzas. 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 2 A--BBBA- seaA · heart · image · everywhereB · everywhereB · everywhereB · seaA · breast
- 4 -------AA- sand · more · wildly · woods · fir · it · gulf · penA · heavenA · thee
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Shadowing downward came dusky evening, | 9 | /˘˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Wildly the breakers rolled, | 7 | /˘·/˘·˘ |
| I sat alone upon the shore and gazed | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| At the white dance of the waves. | 7 | ······· |
| And my bosom heaved with the sea, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| A deep homesickness yearningly seized my heart | 11 | ··/·˘/˘˘··· |
| For thee, oh lovely image, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Who surround'st me everywhere, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Who call'st to me everywhere, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Everywhere, everywhere, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| In the rushing of the wind, in the dashing of the sea, | 14 | ··/˘·····/˘··· |
| And in the sighing of mine own breast. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| With a slender reed I wrote upon the sand, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| "Agnes, I love thee!" | 5 | /˘··· |
| But the wicked waves came overflowing | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·˘ |
| That sweet confession, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| And blotted it out. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Oh brittle reed! oh swiftly-scattered sand! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Oh flowing waves, I trust you no more! | 8 | ·/······ |
| The heavens grow darker, my heart beats more wildly, | 12 | ·/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| And with a mighty hand, from the Norwegian woods, | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| I snatch the loftiest fir, | 6 | ······ |
| And I plunge it | 4 | ···· |
| Into Etna's glowing gulf; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And, with such a fire-steeped giant's pen, | 9 | ····/·/˘· |
| I write on the dusky canopy of heaven, | 10 | ····/˘/˘·/ |
| "Agnes, I love thee!" | 5 | /˘··· |
| Each night hereafter overhead shall blaze | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/·· |
| Those eternal letters of flame. | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘·· |
| And all future generations of our descendants | 13 | ··/˘·˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Shall joyously read the celestial sign, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| "Agnes, I love thee!" | 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.