Distant Sound of the Sea at Evening
Yet, rolling far up some green mountain-dale,Oft let me hear, as ofttimes I have heard,Thy swell, thou deep! when evening calls the birdAnd bee to rest; when summer-tints grow pale,Seen through the gathering of a dewy veil;And peasant-steps are hastening to repose,And gleaming flocks lie down, and flower-cups closeTo the last whisper of the falling gale.Then midst the dying of all other sound,When the soul hears thy distant voice profound,Lone worshipping, and knows that through the night’Twill worship still, then most its anthem-toneSpeaks to our being of the Eternal One,Who girds tired nature with unslumbering might.
Words in this poem
- ofttimes adv.
- Frequently; often. [Oft + time. Cf. -wards.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
- anthem v. t.
- To celebrate with anthems.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Distant Sound of the Sea at Evening 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, Distant Sound of the Sea at Evening, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/distant-sound-of-the-sea-at-evening.html, id L19799.
Form and metre
Distant Sound of the Sea at Evening is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ABBAACCADDE--E daleA · heardB · birdB · paleA · veilA · reposeC · closeC · galeA · soundD · profoundD · nightE · tone · one · mightE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yet, rolling far up some green mountain-dale, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Oft let me hear, as ofttimes I have heard, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thy swell, thou deep! when evening calls the bird | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And bee to rest; when summer-tints grow pale, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Seen through the gathering of a dewy veil; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And peasant-steps are hastening to repose, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And gleaming flocks lie down, and flower-cups close | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| To the last whisper of the falling gale. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then midst the dying of all other sound, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| When the soul hears thy distant voice profound, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Lone worshipping, and knows that through the night | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| ’Twill worship still, then most its anthem-tone | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Speaks to our being of the Eternal One, | 10 | ··//··˘/˘· |
| Who girds tired nature with unslumbering might. | 11 | ··//˘······ |
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.