Homeward Bound LXXII
Lord knows where the reckless creatureChose her transient stopping-place!Swearing through the rainy weather,Everywhere I seek her trace.
I have been to every tavernRunning up and running down,And of every surly waiterMade inquiries in the town.
Lo, I see her in yon window!And she beckons--all is well!Could I guess that you had chosen,Lady, such a grand hotel?
Words in this poem
- surly a.
- Arrogant; haughty. Cotgrave. [Probably from sir, and originally meaning, sirlike, i.e., proud. See Sir, and Like, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound LXXII 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 LXXII, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-lxxii.html, id L15397.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound LXXII is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 -A-A creature · placeA · weather · traceA
- 2 AA-A tavernA · downA · waiter · townA
- 3 -A-A window · wellA · chosen · hotelA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lord knows where the reckless creature | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Chose her transient stopping-place! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Swearing through the rainy weather, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Everywhere I seek her trace. | 7 | /˘····· |
| I have been to every tavern | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Running up and running down, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And of every surly waiter | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Made inquiries in the town. | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| Lo, I see her in yon window! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And she beckons--all is well! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Could I guess that you had chosen, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Lady, such a grand hotel? | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
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.