Invocation
Hush’d is the world in night and sleep--Earth, sea, and air are still as death;Too rude to break a calm so deepWere music’s faintest breath.Descend, bright visions! from aërial bowers,Descend to gild your own soft silent hours.
In hope or fear, in toil or pain,The weary day have mortals pass’d;Now, dreams of bliss! be yours to reign,And all your spells around them cast;Steal from their hearts the pang, their eyes the tear,And lift the veil that hides a brighter sphere.
Oh, bear your softest balm to thoseWho fondly, vainly, mourn the dead!To them that world of peace discloseWhere the bright soul is fled:Whore Love, immortal in his native clime,Shall fear no pang from fate, no blight from time.
Or to his loved, his distant landOn your light wings the exile bear,To feel once more his heart expandIn his own genial mountain-air;Hear the wild echoes well-known strains repeat,And bless each note, as heaven’s own music sweet.
But oh! with fancy’s brightest ray,Blest dreams! the bard’s repose illume;Bid forms of heaven around him play,And bowers of Eden bloom!And waft his spirit to its native skiesWho finds no charm in life’s realities.
No voice is on the air of night,Through folded leaves no murmurs creep,Nor star nor moonbeam’s trembling lightFalls on the placid brow of sleep.Descend, bright visions! from your airy bower:Dark, silent, solemn is your favourite hour.
Words in this poem
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- whore n.
- A woman who practices unlawful sexual commerce with men, especially one who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a harlot. Wyclif. [OE. hore, AS. h; akin to D. hoer, hoere, G. hure, OHG. huora, huorra, Icel. h, Dan. hore, Sw. hora, Goth. h an adulterer, AS. h adultery, OHG. huor, and probabl]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- 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,]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- illume v. t.
- To throw or spread light upon; to make light or bright; to illuminate; to illumine. [Cf. F. illuminer. See Illuminate.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Invocation 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, Invocation, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/invocation.html, id L13470.
Form and metre
Invocation is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCC sleepA · deathB · deepA · breathB · bowersC · hoursC
- 2 ABABCC painA · pass'dB · reignA · castB · tearC · sphereC
- 3 ABABCC thoseA · deadB · discloseA · fledB · climeC · timeC
- 4 ABABCC landA · bearB · expandA · airB · repeatC · sweetC
- 5 ABABCC rayA · illumeB · playA · bloomB · skiesC · realitiesC
- 6 ABABCC nightA · creepB · lightA · sleepB · bowerC · hourC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hush’d is the world in night and sleep-- | 8 | ········ |
| Earth, sea, and air are still as death; | 8 | ········ |
| Too rude to break a calm so deep | 8 | ········ |
| Were music’s faintest breath. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Descend, bright visions! from aërial bowers, | 10 | ˘/·/˘···/˘ |
| Descend to gild your own soft silent hours. | 11 | ˘/·····/˘/˘ |
| In hope or fear, in toil or pain, | 8 | ········ |
| The weary day have mortals pass’d; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Now, dreams of bliss! be yours to reign, | 8 | ········ |
| And all your spells around them cast; | 8 | ········ |
| Steal from their hearts the pang, their eyes the tear, | 10 | ·········· |
| And lift the veil that hides a brighter sphere. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Oh, bear your softest balm to those | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who fondly, vainly, mourn the dead! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To them that world of peace disclose | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Where the bright soul is fled: | 6 | ······ |
| Whore Love, immortal in his native clime, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Shall fear no pang from fate, no blight from time. | 10 | ·········· |
| Or to his loved, his distant land | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| On your light wings the exile bear, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| To feel once more his heart expand | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In his own genial mountain-air; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Hear the wild echoes well-known strains repeat, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And bless each note, as heaven’s own music sweet. | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| But oh! with fancy’s brightest ray, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Blest dreams! the bard’s repose illume; | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Bid forms of heaven around him play, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And bowers of Eden bloom! | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And waft his spirit to its native skies | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Who finds no charm in life’s realities. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| No voice is on the air of night, | 8 | ········ |
| Through folded leaves no murmurs creep, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor star nor moonbeam’s trembling light | 9 | ···/·/˘˘· |
| Falls on the placid brow of sleep. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Descend, bright visions! from your airy bower: | 11 | ˘/·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Dark, silent, solemn is your favourite hour. | 11 | ·/˘/˘·····/ |
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.