Homeward Bound XIX
All hail to thee, thou fairestAnd most mysterious town!That once inclosed my dearestWithin thy gateways brown.
Speak out, ye towers and portals!My sweetheart, where is she?I left her in your keeping;Ye should my warders be.
The towers are not guilty,For rooted fast were they.When sweetheart, with trunks and luggage,So quickly stole away.
The gates gave willing passage,With noiseless bars and locks.A door will always open,When the adorer knocks.
Words in this poem
- luggage n.
- That which is lugged; anything cumbrous and heavy to be carried; especially, a traveler's trunks, baggage, etc., or their contents. [From 4th Lug.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- adorer n.
- One who adores; a worshiper; one who admires or loves greatly; an ardent admirer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound XIX 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 XIX, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-xix.html, id L15346.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound XIX is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 -A-A fairest · townA · dearest · brownA
- 2 -A-A portals · sheA · keeping · beA
- 3 -A-A guilty · theyA · luggage · awayA
- 4 -A-A passage · locksA · open · knocksA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All hail to thee, thou fairest | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And most mysterious town! | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| That once inclosed my dearest | 8 | ····˘·/˘ |
| Within thy gateways brown. | 6 | ···/·· |
| Speak out, ye towers and portals! | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| My sweetheart, where is she? | 6 | ·/···· |
| I left her in your keeping; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ye should my warders be. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The towers are not guilty, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| For rooted fast were they. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When sweetheart, with trunks and luggage, | 8 | ·/····/˘ |
| So quickly stole away. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The gates gave willing passage, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| With noiseless bars and locks. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A door will always open, | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| When the adorer knocks. | 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.