Homeward Bound LXXIII
Like shadows black the housesUprise in long array.Enveloped in my mantleI hurry on my way.
The old cathedral-belfryChimes midnight grave and slow.With all her charms and kissesMy love awaits me now.
The moon is my companion,Kind-beaming from the skyI reach the house beloved,And joyously I cry--
"I thank thee, trusty servant,That thou hast cheered my way.And now, dear moon, I leave thee.On others shed thy ray.
"And if a lonely loverWho sings of grief, thou see,Oh give him such sweet solaceAs thou hast given me."
Words in this poem
- uprise v. i.
- To rise; to get up; to appear from below the horizon.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound LXXIII 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 LXXIII, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-lxxiii.html, id L15398.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound LXXIII is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 houses · arrayA · mantle · wayA
- 3 -A-A companion · skyA · beloved · cryA
- 4 -A-A servant · wayA · thee · rayA
- 5 -A-A lover · seeA · solace · meA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Like shadows black the houses | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| Uprise in long array. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Enveloped in my mantle | 8 | ˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| I hurry on my way. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The old cathedral-belfry | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Chimes midnight grave and slow. | 6 | ·/···· |
| With all her charms and kisses | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| My love awaits me now. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The moon is my companion, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Kind-beaming from the sky | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I reach the house beloved, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And joyously I cry-- | 5 | ····· |
| "I thank thee, trusty servant, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That thou hast cheered my way. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| And now, dear moon, I leave thee. | 7 | ······· |
| On others shed thy ray. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "And if a lonely lover | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Who sings of grief, thou see, | 6 | ······ |
| Oh give him such sweet solace | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| As thou hast given me." | 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.