A Dirge
Weep for the early lost!--How many flowers were mingled in the crownThus, with the lovely, to the grave gone down,E’en when life promised most!How many hopes have wither’d! They that bowTo heaven’s dread will, feel all its mysteries now.
Did the young mother’s eyeBehold her child, and close upon the day,Ere from its glance th’ awakening spirit’s rayIn sunshine could reply?--Then look for clouds to dim the fairest morn!Oh! strong is faith, if woe like this be borne.
For there is hush’d on earthA voice of gladness--there is veil’d a face,Whose parting leaves a dark and silent placeBy the once-joyous hearth;A smile hath pass’d, which fill’d its home with light,A soul, whose beauty made that smile so bright!
But there is power with faith!Power, e’en though nature o’er the untimely graveMust weep, when God resumes the gem He gave;For sorrow comes of Death,And with a yearning heart we linger on,When they, whose glance unlock’d its founts, are gone!
But glory from the dust,And praise to Him, the merciful, for thoseOn whose bright memory love may still reposeWith an immortal trust!Praise for the dead, who leave us, when they part,Such hope as she hath left--“the pure in heart!”
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Dirge is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, A Dirge, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/a-dirge.html, id L19318.
Form and metre
A Dirge is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBACC, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -AA-BB lost · crownA · downA · most · bowB · nowB
- 2 ABBACC eyeA · dayB · rayB · replyA · mornC · borneC
- 3 -AA-BB earth · faceA · placeA · hearth · lightB · brightB
- 4 -AA-BB faith · graveA · gaveA · death · onB · goneB
- 5 ABBACC dustA · thoseB · reposeB · trustA · partC · heartC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Weep for the early lost!-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How many flowers were mingled in the crown | 10 | ·//˘·/˘··· |
| Thus, with the lovely, to the grave gone down, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| E’en when life promised most! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How many hopes have wither’d! They that bow | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| To heaven’s dread will, feel all its mysteries now. | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Did the young mother’s eye | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Behold her child, and close upon the day, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Ere from its glance th’ awakening spirit’s ray | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| In sunshine could reply? | 6 | ·/··˘/ |
| --Then look for clouds to dim the fairest morn! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Oh! strong is faith, if woe like this be borne. | 10 | ·········· |
| For there is hush’d on earth | 6 | ······ |
| A voice of gladness--there is veil’d a face, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whose parting leaves a dark and silent place | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| By the once-joyous hearth; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A smile hath pass’d, which fill’d its home with light, | 10 | ·········· |
| A soul, whose beauty made that smile so bright! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But there is power with faith! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Power, e’en though nature o’er the untimely grave | 11 | /··/˘··˘/˘· |
| Must weep, when God resumes the gem He gave; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| For sorrow comes of Death, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And with a yearning heart we linger on, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| When they, whose glance unlock’d its founts, are gone! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| But glory from the dust, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And praise to Him, the merciful, for those | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| On whose bright memory love may still repose | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| With an immortal trust! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Praise for the dead, who leave us, when they part, | 10 | ·········· |
| Such hope as she hath left--“the pure in heart!” | 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.