Homeward Bound XXX
The pale half-moon of autumnThrough clouds peers doubtfully.Within the lonely churchyardThe parsonage I see.
The mother reads in her Bible,The son at the light doth gaze;One drowsy daughter is nodding,While another speaks and says:
"Ah me! how dreary the days are!How dull, and dark, and mean!Only when there's a funeralIs anything to be seen."
The mother looks from her Bible:"Nay, only four in allHave died since thy father was buriedWithout by the churchyard wall."
Then yawns the eldest daughter,"I will starve no longer here;I will go to the Count to-morrow,He is rich, and he loves me dear."
The son bursts out a-laughing:"At the 'Star' three huntsmen drink deep;They are making gold, and they promiseTo give me their secret to keep."
Toward his lean face, flings the motherHer Bible, in wrath and grief."Out! God-forsaken beggar,Thou wilt be a common thief!"
They hear a tap on the window,And behold a beckoning hand.There in his sable vestmentsThey see the dead father stand.
Words in this poem
- doubtfully adv.
- In a doubtful manner.
- churchyard n.
- The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery.
- parsonage n.
- A certain portion of lands, tithes, and offerings, for the maintenance of the parson of a parish.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound XXX 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 XXX, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-xxx.html, id L15357.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound XXX is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 14 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 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.
- 3 -A-A are · meanA · funeral · seenA
- 4 AA-A bibleA · allA · buried · wallA
- 5 -A-A daughter · hereA · morrow · dearA
- 6 -A-A laughing · deepA · promise · keepA
- 7 -A-A mother · griefA · beggar · thiefA
- 8 -A-A window · handA · vestments · standA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The pale half-moon of autumn | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Through clouds peers doubtfully. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Within the lonely churchyard | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| The parsonage I see. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The mother reads in her Bible, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| The son at the light doth gaze; | 7 | ······· |
| One drowsy daughter is nodding, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| While another speaks and says: | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| "Ah me! how dreary the days are! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How dull, and dark, and mean! | 6 | ······ |
| Only when there's a funeral | 8 | /˘···/˘˘ |
| Is anything to be seen." | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The mother looks from her Bible: | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| "Nay, only four in all | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Have died since thy father was buried | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Without by the churchyard wall." | 7 | ····/·· |
| Then yawns the eldest daughter, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| "I will starve no longer here; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I will go to the Count to-morrow, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| He is rich, and he loves me dear." | 8 | ········ |
| The son bursts out a-laughing: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "At the 'Star' three huntsmen drink deep; | 8 | ········ |
| They are making gold, and they promise | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| To give me their secret to keep." | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Toward his lean face, flings the mother | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Her Bible, in wrath and grief. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "Out! God-forsaken beggar, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Thou wilt be a common thief!" | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They hear a tap on the window, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And behold a beckoning hand. | 8 | ·˘/·/˘˘· |
| There in his sable vestments | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| They see the dead father stand. | 7 | ····/˘· |
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