Morphine
Marked is the likeness 'twixt the beautifulAnd youthful brothers, albeit one appearFar paler than the other, more serene;Yea, I might almost say, far comelierThan his dear brother, who so lovinglyEmbraced me in his arms. How tender, softSeemed then his smile, and how divine his glance!No wonder that the wreath of poppy-flowersAbout his head brought comfort to my brow,And with its mystic fragrance soothed all painFrom out my soul. But such delicious balmA little while could last. I can be curedCompletely only when that other youth,The grave, pale brother, drops at last his torch.Lo, sleep is good, better is death--in soothThe best of all were never to be born.
Words in this poem
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- lovingly adv.
- With love; affectionately.
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Morphine 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, Morphine, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/morphine.html, id L15326.
Form and metre
Morphine is 16 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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- beautiful · appear · serene · comelier · lovingly · soft · glance · flowers · brow · pain · balm · cured · youthA · torch · soothA · born
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Marked is the likeness 'twixt the beautiful | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| And youthful brothers, albeit one appear | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Far paler than the other, more serene; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Yea, I might almost say, far comelier | 10 | ···/······ |
| Than his dear brother, who so lovingly | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Embraced me in his arms. How tender, soft | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Seemed then his smile, and how divine his glance! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| No wonder that the wreath of poppy-flowers | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| About his head brought comfort to my brow, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And with its mystic fragrance soothed all pain | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| From out my soul. But such delicious balm | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| A little while could last. I can be cured | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Completely only when that other youth, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The grave, pale brother, drops at last his torch. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Lo, sleep is good, better is death--in sooth | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The best of all were never to be born. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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.