Funeral Hymn
Where the long reeds quiver,Where the pines make moan,By the forest-river,Sleeps our babe alone.England’s field-flowers may not deck his grave,Cypress shadows o’er him darkly wave.
Woods unknown receive him,Midst the mighty wild;Yet with God we leave him,Blessed, blessed child!And our tears gush o’er his lovely dust,Mournfully, yet still from hearts of trust.
Though his eye hath brighten’dOft our weary way,And his clear laugh lighten’dHalf our hearts’ dismay;Still in hope we give back what was given,Yielding up the beautiful to heaven.
And to her who bore him,Her who long must weep,Yet shall heaven restore himFrom his pale, sweet sleep!Those blue eyes of love and peace againThrough her soul will shine, undimm’d by pain.
Where the long reeds quiver,Where the pines make moan,Leave we by the riverEarth to earth alone!God and Father! may our journeyings onLead to where the blessed boy is gone!
From the exile’s sorrow,From the wanderer’s dreadOf the night and morrow,Early, brightly fled;Thou hast call’d him to a sweeter homeThan our lost one o’er the ocean’s foam.
Now let thought behold him,With his angel look,Where those arms enfold him,Which benignly tookIsrael’s babes to their Good Shepherd’s breastWhen his voice their tender meekness blest.
Turn thee now, fond mother!From thy dead, oh, turn!Linger not, young brother,Here to dream and mourn:Only kneel once more around the sod,Kneel, and bow submitted hearts to God!
Words in this poem
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- 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,]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- benignly adv.
- In a benign manner.
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Funeral Hymn 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, Funeral Hymn, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/funeral-hymn.html, id L19721.
Form and metre
Funeral Hymn is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCC quiverA · moanB · riverA · aloneB · graveC · waveC
- 2 ABABCC himA · wildB · himA · childB · dustC · trustC
- 3 ABAB-- brighten'dA · wayB · lighten'dA · dismayB · given · heaven
- 4 ABABCC himA · weepB · himA · sleepB · againC · painC
- 5 ABABCC quiverA · moanB · riverA · aloneB · onC · goneC
- 6 ABABCC sorrowA · dreadB · morrowA · fledB · homeC · foamC
- 7 ABABCC himA · lookB · himA · tookB · breastC · blestC
- 8 A-A-BB motherA · turn · brotherA · mourn · sodB · godB
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Where the long reeds quiver, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Where the pines make moan, | 5 | ····· |
| By the forest-river, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Sleeps our babe alone. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| England’s field-flowers may not deck his grave, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Cypress shadows o’er him darkly wave. | 9 | /˘/···/˘· |
| Woods unknown receive him, | 6 | ·˘/˘/· |
| Midst the mighty wild; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Yet with God we leave him, | 6 | ······ |
| Blessed, blessed child! | 3 | ··· |
| And our tears gush o’er his lovely dust, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Mournfully, yet still from hearts of trust. | 9 | ········· |
| Though his eye hath brighten’d | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Oft our weary way, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And his clear laugh lighten’d | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Half our hearts’ dismay; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Still in hope we give back what was given, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Yielding up the beautiful to heaven. | 10 | /˘··/˘˘·/˘ |
| And to her who bore him, | 6 | ······ |
| Her who long must weep, | 5 | ····· |
| Yet shall heaven restore him | 7 | ··/˘˘/· |
| From his pale, sweet sleep! | 5 | ····· |
| Those blue eyes of love and peace again | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Through her soul will shine, undimm’d by pain. | 9 | ········· |
| Where the long reeds quiver, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Where the pines make moan, | 5 | ····· |
| Leave we by the river | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Earth to earth alone! | 5 | ···˘/ |
| God and Father! may our journeyings on | 10 | ··/˘·//˘˘· |
| Lead to where the blessed boy is gone! | 9 | ·····˘··· |
| From the exile’s sorrow, | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| From the wanderer’s dread | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Of the night and morrow, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Early, brightly fled; | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Thou hast call’d him to a sweeter home | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Than our lost one o’er the ocean’s foam. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Now let thought behold him, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| With his angel look, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Where those arms enfold him, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Which benignly took | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| Israel’s babes to their Good Shepherd’s breast | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| When his voice their tender meekness blest. | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Turn thee now, fond mother! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| From thy dead, oh, turn! | 5 | ····· |
| Linger not, young brother, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Here to dream and mourn: | 5 | ····· |
| Only kneel once more around the sod, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Kneel, and bow submitted hearts to God! | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
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.