Dreams of the Dead
Oft in still night-dreams a departed faceBends o’er me with sweet earnestness of eye,Wearing no more of earthly pains a trace,But all the tender pity that may lieOn the clear brow of Immortality,Calm, yet profound. Soft rays illume that mien;Th’ unshadow’d moonlight of some far-off skyAround it floats transparently sereneAs a pure veil of waters. O rich Sleep!The spells are mighty in thy regions deep,To glorify with reconciling breath,Effacing, brightening, giving forth to shineBeauty’s high truth; and how much more divineThy power when link’d, in this, with thy strong brother--Death!
Words in this poem
- illume v. t.
- To throw or spread light upon; to make light or bright; to illuminate; to illumine. [Cf. F. illuminer. See Illuminate.]
- glorify v. t.
- To make glorious by bestowing glory upon; to confer honor and distinction upon; to elevate to power or happiness, or to celestial glory. [F. glorifier, L. glorificare; gloria glory + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dreams of the Dead 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 the Dead, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/dreams-of-the-dead.html, id L19824.
Form and metre
Dreams of the Dead is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 ABAB-CBCDDEFFE faceA · eyeB · traceA · lieB · immortality · mienC · skyB · sereneC · sleepD · deepD · breathE · shineF · divineF · deathE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oft in still night-dreams a departed face | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Bends o’er me with sweet earnestness of eye, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Wearing no more of earthly pains a trace, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| But all the tender pity that may lie | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| On the clear brow of Immortality, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Calm, yet profound. Soft rays illume that mien; | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Th’ unshadow’d moonlight of some far-off sky | 10 | ···/······ |
| Around it floats transparently serene | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘/ |
| As a pure veil of waters. O rich Sleep! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The spells are mighty in thy regions deep, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To glorify with reconciling breath, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘· |
| Effacing, brightening, giving forth to shine | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Beauty’s high truth; and how much more divine | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Thy power when link’d, in this, with thy strong brother--Death! | 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.