Dreams of Heaven
“We colour heaven with our own human thoughts,Our vain aspirings, fond remembrances,Our passionate love, that seems unto itselfAn Immortality.”
Dream’st thou of heaven? What dreams are thine?Fair child, fair gladsome child?With eyes that like the dewdrop shine,And bounding footsteps wild!
Tell me what hues th’ immortal shoreCan wear, my bird! to thee?Ere yet one shadow hath pass’d o’erThy glance and spirit free?
“Oh! beautiful is heaven, and brightWith long, long summer days;I see its lilies gleam in lightWhere many a fountain plays.
“And there uncheck’d, methinks, I rove,And seek where young flowers lie,In vale and golden-fruited grove--Flowers that are not to die!”
Thou poet of the lonely thought,Sad heir of gifts divine!Say with what solemn glory fraughtIs heaven in dreams of thine?
“Oh! where the living waters flowAlong that radiant shore,My soul, a wanderer here, shall knowThe exile-thirst no more.
“The burden of the stranger’s heartWhich here alone I bear,Like the night-shadow shall depart,With my first wakening there.
“And borne on eagle wings afar,Free thought shall claim its dower,From every realm, from every star,Of glory and of power.”
O woman! with the soft sad eye,Of spiritual gleam,Tell me of those bright worlds on high,How doth thy fond heart dream?
By the sweet mournful voice I know,On thy pale brow I see,That thou hast loved, in fear, and woe--Say what is heaven to thee?
“Oh! heaven is where no secret dreadMay haunt love’s meeting hour,Where from the past no gloom is shedO’er the heart’s chosen bower:
“Where every sever’d wreath is bound--Where none have heard the knellThat smites the heart with that deep sound--Farewell, beloved!--farewell!”
Words in this poem
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- 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,]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- wakening n.
- The act of one who wakens; esp., the act of ceasing to sleep; an awakening.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dreams of Heaven 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, Dreams of Heaven, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/dreams-of-heaven.html, id L19595.
Form and metre
Dreams of Heaven is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB thineA · childB · shineA · wildB
- 3 -A-A shore · theeA · o'er · freeA
- 4 ABAB brightA · daysB · lightA · playsB
- 5 ABAB roveA · lieB · groveA · dieB
- 6 ABAB thoughtA · divineB · fraughtA · thineB
- 7 ABAB flowA · shoreB · knowA · moreB
- 8 ABAB heartA · bearB · departA · thereB
- 9 A-A- afarA · dower · starA · power
- 10 ABAB eyeA · gleamB · highA · dreamB
- 11 ABAB knowA · seeB · woeA · theeB
- 12 ABAB dreadA · hourB · shedA · bowerB
- 13 ABAB boundA · knellB · soundA · farewellB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| “We colour heaven with our own human thoughts, | 10 | ·/˘/·/·/˘· |
| Our vain aspirings, fond remembrances, | 11 | /˘·˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Our passionate love, that seems unto itself | 10 | //˘·····˘/ |
| An Immortality.” | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Dream’st thou of heaven? What dreams are thine? | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Fair child, fair gladsome child? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With eyes that like the dewdrop shine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And bounding footsteps wild! | 6 | ·/˘/·· |
| Tell me what hues th’ immortal shore | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Can wear, my bird! to thee? | 6 | ······ |
| Ere yet one shadow hath pass’d o’er | 8 | ···/···· |
| Thy glance and spirit free? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Oh! beautiful is heaven, and bright | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘·· |
| With long, long summer days; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I see its lilies gleam in light | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where many a fountain plays. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| “And there uncheck’d, methinks, I rove, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| And seek where young flowers lie, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In vale and golden-fruited grove-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Flowers that are not to die!” | 7 | /˘····· |
| Thou poet of the lonely thought, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sad heir of gifts divine! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Say with what solemn glory fraught | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is heaven in dreams of thine? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| “Oh! where the living waters flow | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Along that radiant shore, | 7 | ˘/·/˘˘· |
| My soul, a wanderer here, shall know | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| The exile-thirst no more. | 6 | ·/···· |
| “The burden of the stranger’s heart | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Which here alone I bear, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Like the night-shadow shall depart, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| With my first wakening there. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| “And borne on eagle wings afar, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Free thought shall claim its dower, | 6 | ······ |
| From every realm, from every star, | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘· |
| Of glory and of power.” | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| O woman! with the soft sad eye, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of spiritual gleam, | 6 | ·/˘˘˘· |
| Tell me of those bright worlds on high, | 8 | ········ |
| How doth thy fond heart dream? | 6 | ······ |
| By the sweet mournful voice I know, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On thy pale brow I see, | 6 | ······ |
| That thou hast loved, in fear, and woe-- | 8 | ········ |
| Say what is heaven to thee? | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| “Oh! heaven is where no secret dread | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| May haunt love’s meeting hour, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Where from the past no gloom is shed | 8 | ········ |
| O’er the heart’s chosen bower: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| “Where every sever’d wreath is bound-- | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Where none have heard the knell | 6 | ······ |
| That smites the heart with that deep sound-- | 8 | ········ |
| Farewell, beloved!--farewell!” | 6 | ·/˘/·/ |
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