Homeward Bound II
I know not what spell is o'er me,That I am so sad to day;An old myth floats before me--I cannot chase it away.
The cool air darkens, and listen,How softly flows the Rhine!The mountain peaks still glistenWhere the evening sunbeams shine.
The fairest maid sits dreamingIn radiant beauty there.Her gold and her jewels are gleaming.She combeth her golden hair.
With a golden comb she is combing;A wondrous song sings she.The music quaint in the gleaming,Hath a powerful melody.
It thrills with a passionate yearningThe boatman below in the night.He heeds not the rocky reef's warning,He gazes alone on the height.
I think that the waters swallowedThe boat and the boatman anon.And this, with her singing unhallowed,The Lorelei hath done.
Words in this poem
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- boatman n.
- A man who manages a boat; a rower of a boat.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- unhallowed a.
- Not consecrated; hence, profane; unholy; impious; wicked. [Pref. un- not + hallowed.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound II 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, Homeward Bound II, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-ii.html, id L15329.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound II is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 76% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 meA · dayB · meA · awayB
- 2 ABAB listenA · rhineB · glistenA · shineB
- 3 ABAB dreamingA · thereB · gleamingA · hairB
- 5 -A-A yearning · nightA · warning · heightA
- 6 A-A- swallowedA · anon · unhallowedA · done
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I know not what spell is o'er me, | 8 | ········ |
| That I am so sad to day; | 7 | ······· |
| An old myth floats before me-- | 7 | ······· |
| I cannot chase it away. | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| The cool air darkens, and listen, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| How softly flows the Rhine! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The mountain peaks still glisten | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Where the evening sunbeams shine. | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| The fairest maid sits dreaming | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| In radiant beauty there. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Her gold and her jewels are gleaming. | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| She combeth her golden hair. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| With a golden comb she is combing; | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| A wondrous song sings she. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The music quaint in the gleaming, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Hath a powerful melody. | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| It thrills with a passionate yearning | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| The boatman below in the night. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He heeds not the rocky reef's warning, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| He gazes alone on the height. | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| I think that the waters swallowed | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| The boat and the boatman anon. | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| And this, with her singing unhallowed, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| The Lorelei hath done. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.