Hope of Future Communion with Nature
If e’er again my spirit be allow’dConverse with Nature in her chambers deep,Where lone, and mantled with the rolling cloud,She broods o’er new-born waters, as they leapIn sword-like flashes down the heathery steepFrom caves of mystery;--if I roam once moreWhere dark pines quiver to the torrent’s roar,And voiceful oaks respond;--may I not reapA more ennobling joy, a loftier power,Than e’er was shed on life’s more vernal hourFrom such communion? Yes! I then shall knowThat not in vain have sorrow, love, and thoughtTheir long, still work of preparation wrought,For that more perfect sense of God reveal’d below.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- heathery a.
- Heathy; abounding in heather; of the nature of heath.
- voiceful a.
- Having a voice or vocal quality; having a loud voice or many voices; vocal; sounding.
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hope of Future Communion with Nature 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, Hope of Future Communion with Nature, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/hope-of-future-communion-with-nature.html, id L19823.
Form and metre
Hope of Future Communion with Nature is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCCBDDEFFE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABBCCBDDEFFE allow'dA · deepB · cloudA · leapB · steepB · moreC · roarC · reapB · powerD · hourD · knowE · thoughtF · wroughtF · belowE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If e’er again my spirit be allow’d | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Converse with Nature in her chambers deep, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Where lone, and mantled with the rolling cloud, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| She broods o’er new-born waters, as they leap | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In sword-like flashes down the heathery steep | 11 | ···/˘··/˘˘· |
| From caves of mystery;--if I roam once more | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where dark pines quiver to the torrent’s roar, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And voiceful oaks respond;--may I not reap | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| A more ennobling joy, a loftier power, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘/ |
| Than e’er was shed on life’s more vernal hour | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| From such communion? Yes! I then shall know | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| That not in vain have sorrow, love, and thought | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Their long, still work of preparation wrought, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| For that more perfect sense of God reveal’d below. | 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.