Laurel · Felicia Hemans · Poems

Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants

Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) · 1808–1835

iambic tetrameter · 43 lines · from Poems

Come to the sunset tree!The day is past and gone;The woodman’s axe lies free,And the reaper’s work is done.

The twilight star to heaven,And the summer dew to flowers,And rest to us, is givenBy the cool, soft evening hours.

Sweet is the hour of rest!Pleasant the wind’s low sigh,And the gleaming of the west,And the turf whereon we lie;

When the burden and the heatOf labour’s task are o’er,And kindly voices greetThe tired one at his door.

Come to the sunset tree!The day is past and gone;The woodman’s axe lies free,And the reaper’s work is done.

Yes! tuneful is the soundThat dwells in whispering boughs;Welcome the freshness round,And the gale that fans our brows!

But rest more sweet and stillThan ever nightfall gave,Our yearning hearts shall fillIn the world beyond the grave.

There shall no tempest blow,No scorching noontide heat;There shall be no more snow,No weary, wandering feet.

So we lift our trusting eyesFrom the hills our fathers trode,To the quiet of the skies,To the Sabbath of our God.

Come to the sunset tree!The day is past and gone;The woodman’s axe lies free,And the reaper’s work is done.

“Wohl ihm, er ist hingegangenWo kein Schnee mehr ist.”Schiller’s Nadowessiche Todtenklage.

Words in this poem

woodman n.: A forest officer appointed to take care of the king's woods; a forester. [Eng.]
whereon adv.: On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
tuneful a.: Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
nightfall n.: The close of the day.
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,]
scorching a.: Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
noontide n.: The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
trode n.: Tread; footing. [AS. trod, fr. tredan to tread. See Tread.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants 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, Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/evening-song-of-the-tyrolese-peasants.html, id L19553.

Form and metre

Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants is 43 lines in 11 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 4 of the 11 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

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 A-A- tree^A · gone · free^A · done
2 -A-A heaven · flowers^A · given · hours^A
3 ABAB rest^A · sigh^B · west^A · lie^B
4 A-A- heat^A · o'er · greet^A · door
5 A-A- tree^A · gone · free^A · done
6 ABAB sound^A · boughs^B · round^A · brows^B
7 ABAB still^A · gave^B · fill^A · grave^B
8 ABAB blow^A · heat^B · snow^A · feet^B
9 A-A- eyes^A · trode · skies^A · god
10 A-A- tree^A · gone · free^A · done

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 tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Come to the sunset tree!	6	···/··
The day is past and gone;	6	······
The woodman’s axe lies free,	6	·/˘···
And the reaper’s work is done.	7	··/˘···
The twilight star to heaven,	7	·/···/˘
And the summer dew to flowers,	7	··/˘··/
And rest to us, is given	7	·····/˘
By the cool, soft evening hours.	7	····/˘/
Sweet is the hour of rest!	6	···/··
Pleasant the wind’s low sigh,	6	/˘····
And the gleaming of the west,	7	··/˘···
And the turf whereon we lie;	7	···˘/··
When the burden and the heat	7	··/˘···
Of labour’s task are o’er,	6	·/····
And kindly voices greet	6	·/˘/˘·
The tired one at his door.	6	·/····
Come to the sunset tree!	6	···/··
The day is past and gone;	6	······
The woodman’s axe lies free,	6	·/˘···
And the reaper’s work is done.	7	··/˘···
Yes! tuneful is the sound	6	·/˘···
That dwells in whispering boughs;	6	···/˘·
Welcome the freshness round,	6	/˘·/˘·
And the gale that fans our brows!	7	·····/·
But rest more sweet and still	6	······
Than ever nightfall gave,	6	·/˘/··
Our yearning hearts shall fill	6	//˘···
In the world beyond the grave.	7	·······
There shall no tempest blow,	6	···/˘·
No scorching noontide heat;	6	·/˘/˘·
There shall be no more snow,	6	······
No weary, wandering feet.	6	·/˘/˘·
So we lift our trusting eyes	7	···//˘·
From the hills our fathers trode,	7	···//˘·
To the quiet of the skies,	6	··/···
To the Sabbath of our God.	7	··/˘·/·
Come to the sunset tree!	6	···/··
The day is past and gone;	6	······
The woodman’s axe lies free,	6	·/˘···
And the reaper’s work is done.	7	··/˘···
“Wohl ihm, er ist hingegangen	8	········
Wo kein Schnee mehr ist.”	5	·····
Schiller’s Nadowessiche Todtenklage.	9	/˘·······

Notes from the edition 1

Notes from The Poems of Felicia Hemans (Project Gutenberg #66785), largely Mrs Hemans's own.

Stanza 8, line 3 “Wohl ihm, er ist hingegangen Wo kein Schnee mehr ist.” Schiller’s Nadowessiche Todtenklage.

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.

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