Homeward Bound XXXII
They think my heart is breaking,In sorrow's bitter yoke,I too begin to think it,As well as other folk.
Thou large-eyed little darling,Do I not always sayI love thee past all telling--Love gnaws my heart away?
But only in my chamberI dare express my pain;For always in thy presenceQuite silent I remain.
For there were evil angelsWho sealed my lips so close.And oh! from evil angelsSprang all my wretched woes.
Words in this poem
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Homeward Bound XXXII 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 XXXII, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/homeward-bound-xxxii.html, id L15359.
Form and metre
Homeward Bound XXXII is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 breaking · yokeA · it · folkA
- 2 -A-A darling · sayA · telling · awayA
- 3 -A-A chamber · painA · presence · remainA
- 4 ABAB angelsA · closeB · angelsA · woesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They think my heart is breaking, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In sorrow's bitter yoke, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I too begin to think it, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| As well as other folk. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou large-eyed little darling, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Do I not always say | 6 | ···/·· |
| I love thee past all telling-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Love gnaws my heart away? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But only in my chamber | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| I dare express my pain; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| For always in thy presence | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| Quite silent I remain. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| For there were evil angels | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Who sealed my lips so close. | 7 | ··˘···· |
| And oh! from evil angels | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Sprang all my wretched woes. | 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.