Songs to Seraphine V
I knew that thou must love me--'Twas long ago made clear.But thy confession filled meWith deep and secret fear.
I clambered up the mountain,And sang aloud for glee.Then while the sun was setting,I wept beside the sea.
My heart is like the sun, dear,Yon kindled flame above;And sinks in large-orbed beautyWithin a sea of love.
Words in this poem
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Songs to Seraphine V 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, Songs to Seraphine V, in Poems and Ballads (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #31726, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/heine-poems-ballads/songs-to-seraphine-v.html, id L15420.
Form and metre
Songs to Seraphine V is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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 ABAB meA · clearB · meA · fearB
- 2 -A-A mountain · gleeA · setting · seaA
- 3 -A-A dear · aboveA · beauty · loveA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I knew that thou must love me-- | 7 | ······· |
| 'Twas long ago made clear. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| But thy confession filled me | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘· |
| With deep and secret fear. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I clambered up the mountain, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| And sang aloud for glee. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Then while the sun was setting, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I wept beside the sea. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| My heart is like the sun, dear, | 7 | ······· |
| Yon kindled flame above; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And sinks in large-orbed beauty | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Within a sea of love. | 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.