A Song of Delos
“Terre, soleil, vallons, belle et douce nature,Je vous dois une larme aux bords de mon tombeau;L’air est si parfume! la lumiere est si pure!Aux regards d’un Mourant le soleil est si beau!” Lamartine.
A song was heard of old--a low, sweet song,On the blue seas by Delos. From that isle,The Sun-god’s own domain, a gentle girl--Gentle, yet all inspired of soul, of mien,Lit with a life too perilously bright--Was borne away to die. How beautifulSeems this world to the dying!--but for her,The child of beauty and of poesy,And of soft Grecian skies--oh! who may dreamOf all that from her changeful eye flash’d forth,Or glanced more quiveringly through starry tears,As on her land’s rich vision, fane o’er faneColour’d with loving light, she gazed her last,Her young life’s last, that hour! From her pale browAnd burning cheek she threw the ringlets back,And bending forward, as the spirit sway’dThe reed-like form still to the shore beloved,Breathed the swan-music of her wild farewellO’er dancing waves:--“Oh, linger yet!” she cried,
“Oh, linger, linger on the oar!Oh, pause upon the deep!That I may gaze yet once, once more,Where floats the golden day o’er fane and steep!Never so brightly smiled mine own sweet shore--Oh! linger, linger on the parting oar!
“I see the laurels fling back showersOf soft light still on many a shrine;I see the path to haunts of flowersThrough the dim olives lead its gleaming line;I hear a sound of flutes--a swell of song--Mine is too low to reach that joyous throng!
“Oh! linger, linger on the oarBeneath my native sky!Let my life part from that bright shoreWith day’s last crimson--gazing let me die!Thou bark, glide slowly!--slowly should be borneThe voyager that never shall return.
“A fatal gift hath been thy dower,Lord of the Lyre! to me;With song and wreath from bower to bower,Sisters went bounding like young Oreads free;While I, through long, lone, voiceless hours apart,Have lain and listen’d to my beating heart.
“Now, wasted by the inborn fire,I sink to early rest;The ray that lit the incense-pyreLeaves unto death its temple in my breast.--O sunshine, skies, rich flowers! too soon I go,While round me thus triumphantly ye glow!
“Bright isle! might but thine echoes keepA tone of my farewell,One tender accent, low and deep,Shrined midst thy founts and haunted rocks to dwell!Might my last breath send music to thy shore!--Oh, linger, seamen! linger on the oar!”
Words in this poem 18
- belle n.
- A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady. [F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau.]
- douce a.
- Sweet; pleasant. [F. doux, masc., douce, fem., sweet, fr. L. duleis sweet.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- quiveringly adv.
- With quivering motion.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- voyager n.
- One who voyages; one who sails or passes by sea or water. [Cf. F. voyager traveling.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- voiceless a.
- Having no voice, utterance, or vote; silent; mute; dumb.
- pyre n.
- A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. [L. pure, Gr. Fire.]
- 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.
- triumphantly adv.
- In a triumphant manner.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song of Delos 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 Song of Delos, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/a-song-of-delos.html, id L19621.
Form and metre
A Song of Delos is 59 lines in 8 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 3 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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.
- 2 -AA--A------------- song · isleA · girlA · mien · bright · beautifulA · her · poesy · dream · forth · tears · fane · last · brow · back · sway'd · beloved · farewell · cried
- 3 ABABAA oarA · deepB · moreA · steepB · shoreA · oarA
- 4 ABABCC showersA · shrineB · flowersA · lineB · songC · throngC
- 5 ABAB-- oarA · skyB · shoreA · dieB · borne · return
- 6 -A-ABB dower · meA · bower · freeA · apartB · heartB
- 7 ABABCC fireA · restB · pyreA · breastB · goC · glowC
- 8 ABABCC keepA · farewellB · deepA · dwellB · shoreC · oarC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Terre, soleil, vallons, belle et douce nature, | 11 | /˘˘/·····/˘ |
| Je vous dois une larme aux bords de mon tombeau; | 11 | ··········· |
| L’air est si parfume! la lumiere est si pure! | 13 | ·˘/······˘/·· |
| Aux regards d’un Mourant le soleil est si beau!” Lamartine. | 16 | ·˘/····˘/˘/····· |
| A song was heard of old--a low, sweet song, | 10 | ·········· |
| On the blue seas by Delos. From that isle, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The Sun-god’s own domain, a gentle girl-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Gentle, yet all inspired of soul, of mien, | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Lit with a life too perilously bright-- | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘· |
| Was borne away to die. How beautiful | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| Seems this world to the dying!--but for her, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The child of beauty and of poesy, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| And of soft Grecian skies--oh! who may dream | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of all that from her changeful eye flash’d forth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or glanced more quiveringly through starry tears, | 11 | ···/˘˘˘·/˘· |
| As on her land’s rich vision, fane o’er fane | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Colour’d with loving light, she gazed her last, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Her young life’s last, that hour! From her pale brow | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And burning cheek she threw the ringlets back, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And bending forward, as the spirit sway’d | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The reed-like form still to the shore beloved, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Breathed the swan-music of her wild farewell | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| O’er dancing waves:--“Oh, linger yet!” she cried, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| “Oh, linger, linger on the oar! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Oh, pause upon the deep! | 6 | ······ |
| That I may gaze yet once, once more, | 8 | ········ |
| Where floats the golden day o’er fane and steep! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Never so brightly smiled mine own sweet shore-- | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Oh! linger, linger on the parting oar! | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| “I see the laurels fling back showers | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Of soft light still on many a shrine; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I see the path to haunts of flowers | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Through the dim olives lead its gleaming line; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I hear a sound of flutes--a swell of song-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Mine is too low to reach that joyous throng! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| “Oh! linger, linger on the oar | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Beneath my native sky! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Let my life part from that bright shore | 8 | ········ |
| With day’s last crimson--gazing let me die! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Thou bark, glide slowly!--slowly should be borne | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The voyager that never shall return. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| “A fatal gift hath been thy dower, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Lord of the Lyre! to me; | 6 | ······ |
| With song and wreath from bower to bower, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| Sisters went bounding like young Oreads free; | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| While I, through long, lone, voiceless hours apart, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘/ |
| Have lain and listen’d to my beating heart. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| “Now, wasted by the inborn fire, | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| I sink to early rest; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The ray that lit the incense-pyre | 9 | ·····/·/˘ |
| Leaves unto death its temple in my breast. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| --O sunshine, skies, rich flowers! too soon I go, | 10 | ·/···/···· |
| While round me thus triumphantly ye glow! | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| “Bright isle! might but thine echoes keep | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A tone of my farewell, | 6 | ·····/ |
| One tender accent, low and deep, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Shrined midst thy founts and haunted rocks to dwell! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Might my last breath send music to thy shore! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| --Oh, linger, seamen! linger on the oar!” | 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.