Introduction
One hour for distant homes to weepMidst Afric’s burnings sands,One silent sunset hour was givenTo the slaves of many lands.
They sat beneath a lonely palm,In the gardens of their lord;And, mingling with the fountain’s tune,Their songs of exile pour’d.
And strangely, sadly did those laysOf Alp and ocean sound,With Afric’s wild, red skies above,And solemn wastes around.
Broken with tears were oft their tones,And most when most they triedTo breathe of hope and liberty,From hearts that inly died.
So met the sons of many lands,Parted by mount and main;So did they sing in brotherhood,Made kindred by the chain.
Words in this poem
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- inly a.
- Internal; interior; secret. [OE. inlich, AS. inlic. See In.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Introduction 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, Introduction, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/introduction.html, id L19647.
Form and metre
Introduction is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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.
- 1 -A-A weep · sandsA · given · landsA
- 2 -A-A palm · lordA · tune · pour'dA
- 3 -A-A lays · soundA · above · aroundA
- 4 -A-A tones · triedA · liberty · diedA
- 5 -A-A lands · mainA · brotherhood · chainA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One hour for distant homes to weep | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Midst Afric’s burnings sands, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| One silent sunset hour was given | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘·/˘ |
| To the slaves of many lands. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They sat beneath a lonely palm, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In the gardens of their lord; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And, mingling with the fountain’s tune, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Their songs of exile pour’d. | 6 | ···/·· |
| And strangely, sadly did those lays | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of Alp and ocean sound, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With Afric’s wild, red skies above, | 8 | ········ |
| And solemn wastes around. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Broken with tears were oft their tones, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And most when most they tried | 6 | ······ |
| To breathe of hope and liberty, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| From hearts that inly died. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So met the sons of many lands, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Parted by mount and main; | 6 | /˘···· |
| So did they sing in brotherhood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Made kindred by the chain. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.