Homeward Bound LXX
Oh, to be chased from lovely lips! and tornFrom lovely arms that clasped as in a dream.I fain had stayed with thee another morn.Then came the postboy with his tinkling team.
E'en such is life, my child, a constant moan--A constant parting, evermore good-byes,Could not thy heart cling fast unto mine own?Couldst thou not hold me steadfast with thine eyes?
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- postboy n.
- One who rides post horses; a position; a courier.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound LXX 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 LXX, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-lxx.html, id L15395.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound LXX is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 tornA · dreamB · mornA · teamB
- 2 ABAB moanA · byesB · ownA · eyesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, to be chased from lovely lips! and torn | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| From lovely arms that clasped as in a dream. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I fain had stayed with thee another morn. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Then came the postboy with his tinkling team. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| E'en such is life, my child, a constant moan-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A constant parting, evermore good-byes, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Could not thy heart cling fast unto mine own? | 10 | ·········· |
| Couldst thou not hold me steadfast with thine eyes? | 10 | ·····/···· |
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.