Homeward Bound LXVIII
I dreamt I was Almighty God,And sat within the sky,And angels sat on either side,And praised my poetry.
And sweets and pasties there I ate,And drank the best Tokay,Worth many a precious florin bright,Yet had no bill to pay.
No less was I nigh bored to death,And longed for earth and evil,And were I not Almighty God,I fain had been the devil.
"Thou long-legged angel Gabriel,Make haste; begone from here!And hither bring my friend Eugene,The friend I love so dear.
"Within the college seek him not,But where good wine inspires.And seek him not in Hedwig Church,But seek him at Miss Myers'."
Then spreading broad his mighty wings,The angel doth descend,And hastens off, and brings me backDear Bendel, my good friend.
Lo, youth, I am Almighty God!The earth is my estate.Did I not always promise theeI should be something great?
And I accomplish miraclesThat shall thy homage win.To-day to please thee I shall blessThe city of Berlin.
Behold, the pavements of each streetNow wider, broader, grown!And to an oyster, fresh and clear,Transformed is every stone.
A shower of sweet lemonadePours down like dew divine.And through the very gutters flowsThe mellowest Rhine wine.
Oh, how the Berlinese rejoice!They lush o'er such good fare.The councillors and aldermenWill drain the gutters bare.
The poets are in ecstasiesAt such a feast divine.The captains and the corporalsLick up the streaming wine.
The captains and the corporals,What clever men are they!They think--such miracles as theseOccur not every day.
Words in this poem
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- tokay n.
- A grape of an oval shape and whitish color. [Named fr. Tokay in Hungary.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- 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,]
- berlin n.
- A four-wheeled carriage, having a sheltered seat behind the body and separate from it, invented in the 17th century, at Berlin. [The capital of Prussia]
- lemonade n.
- A beverage consisting of lemon juice mixed with water and sweetened. [F. limonade; cf. Sp. limonada, It. limonata. See Lemon.]
- lush a.
- Full of juice or succulence. [Prob. an abbrev. of lushious, fr. luscious.]
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- occur v. i.
- To meet; to clash. [L. occurrere, occursum; ob (see Ob-) + currere to run. See Course.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound LXVIII 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 LXVIII, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-lxviii.html, id L15393.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound LXVIII is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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.
- 2 -A-A ate · tokayA · bright · payA
- 4 -A-A gabriel · hereA · eugene · dearA
- 6 -A-A wings · descendA · back · friendA
- 7 -A-A god · estateA · thee · greatA
- 8 -A-A miracles · winA · bless · berlinA
- 9 -A-A street · grownA · clear · stoneA
- 10 -A-A lemonade · divineA · flows · wineA
- 11 -A-A rejoice · fareA · aldermen · bareA
- 12 -A-A ecstasies · divineA · corporals · wineA
- 13 -A-A corporals · theyA · these · dayA
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 dreamt I was Almighty God, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And sat within the sky, | 6 | ······ |
| And angels sat on either side, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And praised my poetry. | 7 | ··˘·/˘˘ |
| And sweets and pasties there I ate, | 7 | ······· |
| And drank the best Tokay, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Worth many a precious florin bright, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Yet had no bill to pay. | 6 | ······ |
| No less was I nigh bored to death, | 8 | ········ |
| And longed for earth and evil, | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| And were I not Almighty God, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I fain had been the devil. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "Thou long-legged angel Gabriel, | 9 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Make haste; begone from here! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And hither bring my friend Eugene, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The friend I love so dear. | 6 | ······ |
| "Within the college seek him not, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But where good wine inspires. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And seek him not in Hedwig Church, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But seek him at Miss Myers'." | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Then spreading broad his mighty wings, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The angel doth descend, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And hastens off, and brings me back | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dear Bendel, my good friend. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Lo, youth, I am Almighty God! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The earth is my estate. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Did I not always promise thee | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| I should be something great? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And I accomplish miracles | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| That shall thy homage win. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To-day to please thee I shall bless | 8 | ········ |
| The city of Berlin. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Behold, the pavements of each street | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Now wider, broader, grown! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And to an oyster, fresh and clear, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Transformed is every stone. | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| A shower of sweet lemonade | 8 | ·/˘··/˘/ |
| Pours down like dew divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And through the very gutters flows | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The mellowest Rhine wine. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Oh, how the Berlinese rejoice! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| They lush o'er such good fare. | 6 | ······ |
| The councillors and aldermen | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Will drain the gutters bare. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The poets are in ecstasies | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| At such a feast divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The captains and the corporals | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Lick up the streaming wine. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The captains and the corporals, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| What clever men are they! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They think--such miracles as these | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Occur not every day. | 7 | ˘/·/˘˘· |
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