Design and Performance
They float before my soul, the fair designsWhich I would body forth to life and power,Like clouds, that with their wavering hues and linesPortray majestic buildings:--dome and tower,Bright spire, that through the rainbow and the showerPoints to th’ unchanging stars; and high arcade,Far-sweeping to some glorious altar, madeFor holiest rites. Meanwhile the waning hourMelts from me, and by fervent dreams o’erwrought,I sink. O friend! O link’d with each high thought!Aid me, of those rich visions to detainAll I may grasp; until thou see’st fulfill’d,While time and strength allow, my hope to buildFor lowly hearts devout, but one enduring fane!
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Design and Performance 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, Design and Performance, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/design-and-performance.html, id L19822.
Form and metre
Design and Performance is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCCBDDEFFE. 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 ABABBCCBDDEFFE designsA · powerB · linesA · towerB · showerB · arcadeC · madeC · hourB · o'erwroughtD · thoughtD · detainE · fulfill'dF · buildF · faneE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They float before my soul, the fair designs | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Which I would body forth to life and power, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Like clouds, that with their wavering hues and lines | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Portray majestic buildings:--dome and tower, | 11 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Bright spire, that through the rainbow and the shower | 11 | ·····/···/˘ |
| Points to th’ unchanging stars; and high arcade, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Far-sweeping to some glorious altar, made | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| For holiest rites. Meanwhile the waning hour | 10 | ·/˘·/··/˘/ |
| Melts from me, and by fervent dreams o’erwrought, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I sink. O friend! O link’d with each high thought! | 10 | ·········· |
| Aid me, of those rich visions to detain | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| All I may grasp; until thou see’st fulfill’d, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| While time and strength allow, my hope to build | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| For lowly hearts devout, but one enduring fane! | 12 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/˘· |
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.