Dirge
Where shall we make her grave?Oh! where the wild-flowers waveIn the free air!Where shower and singing-birdMidst the young leaves are heard--There--lay her there!
Harsh was the world to her--Now may sleep ministerBalm for each ill:Low on sweet nature’s breastLet the meek heart find rest,Deep, deep and still!
Murmur, glad waters! by;Faint gales! with happy sigh,Come wandering o’erThat green and mossy bed,Where, on a gentle head,Storms beat no more!
What though for her in vainFalls now the bright spring-rain,Plays the soft wind?Yet still, from where she lies,Should blessed breathings rise,Gracious and kind.
Therefore let song and dewThence in the heart renewLife’s vernal glow!And o’er that holy earthScents of the violet’s birthStill come and go!
Oh! then, where wild flowers waveMake ye her mossy grave,In the free air!Where shower and singing-birdMidst the young leaves are heard--There--lay her there!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
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, Dirge, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/dirge.html, id L19660.
Form and metre
Dirge is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABCCB graveA · waveA · airB · birdC · heardC · thereB
- 2 --ABBA her · minister · illA · breastB · restB · stillA
- 3 AA-BB- byA · sighA · o'er · bedB · headB · more
- 4 AABCCB vainA · rainA · windB · liesC · riseC · kindB
- 5 AABCCB dewA · renewA · glowB · earthC · birthC · goB
- 6 AABCCB waveA · graveA · airB · birdC · heardC · thereB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Where shall we make her grave? | 6 | ······ |
| Oh! where the wild-flowers wave | 6 | ····/· |
| In the free air! | 4 | ···· |
| Where shower and singing-bird | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| Midst the young leaves are heard-- | 6 | ······ |
| There--lay her there! | 4 | ···· |
| Harsh was the world to her-- | 6 | ······ |
| Now may sleep minister | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Balm for each ill: | 4 | ···· |
| Low on sweet nature’s breast | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Let the meek heart find rest, | 6 | ······ |
| Deep, deep and still! | 4 | ···· |
| Murmur, glad waters! by; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Faint gales! with happy sigh, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Come wandering o’er | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| That green and mossy bed, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where, on a gentle head, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Storms beat no more! | 4 | ···· |
| What though for her in vain | 6 | ······ |
| Falls now the bright spring-rain, | 6 | ······ |
| Plays the soft wind? | 4 | ···· |
| Yet still, from where she lies, | 6 | ······ |
| Should blessed breathings rise, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Gracious and kind. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Therefore let song and dew | 6 | ······ |
| Thence in the heart renew | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Life’s vernal glow! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And o’er that holy earth | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Scents of the violet’s birth | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Still come and go! | 4 | ···· |
| Oh! then, where wild flowers wave | 6 | ····/· |
| Make ye her mossy grave, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In the free air! | 4 | ···· |
| Where shower and singing-bird | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| Midst the young leaves are heard-- | 6 | ······ |
| There--lay her there! | 4 | ···· |
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.