Mignon’s Song: Translated from Goethe
Know’st thou the land where bloom the citron bowers,Where the gold-orange lights the dusky grove?High waves the laurel there, the myrtle flowers,And through a still blue heaven the sweet winds rove.Know’st thou it well?There, there, with thee,O friend! O loved one! fain my steps would flee.
Know’st thou the dwelling? There the pillars rise,Soft shines the hall, the painted chambers glow;And forms of marble seem with pitying eyesTo say--“Poor child! what thus hath wrought thee woe?”Know’st thou it well?There, there with thee,O my protector! homewards might I flee!
Know’st thou the mountain? High its bridge is hung,Where the mule seeks through mist and cloud his way;There lurk the dragon-race, deep caves among,O’er beetling rocks there foams the torrent-spray.Know’st thou it well?With thee, with thee,There lies my path, O father! let us flee!
Words in this poem
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- homewards adv.
- Toward home; in the direction of one's house, town, or country. [AS. hamweard.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mignon’s Song: Translated from Goethe 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, Mignon’s Song: Translated from Goethe, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/mignon-s-song-translated-from-goethe.html, id L19656.
Form and metre
Mignon’s Song: Translated from Goethe is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. 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 ABAB-CC bowersA · groveB · flowersA · roveB · well · theeC · fleeC
- 2 ABAB-CC riseA · glowB · eyesA · woeB · well · theeC · fleeC
- 3 ABAB-CC hungA · wayB · amongA · sprayB · well · theeC · fleeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Know’st thou the land where bloom the citron bowers, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Where the gold-orange lights the dusky grove? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| High waves the laurel there, the myrtle flowers, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And through a still blue heaven the sweet winds rove. | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Know’st thou it well? | 4 | ···· |
| There, there, with thee, | 4 | ···· |
| O friend! O loved one! fain my steps would flee. | 10 | ·········· |
| Know’st thou the dwelling? There the pillars rise, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Soft shines the hall, the painted chambers glow; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And forms of marble seem with pitying eyes | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To say--“Poor child! what thus hath wrought thee woe?” | 10 | ·········· |
| Know’st thou it well? | 4 | ···· |
| There, there with thee, | 4 | ···· |
| O my protector! homewards might I flee! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Know’st thou the mountain? High its bridge is hung, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where the mule seeks through mist and cloud his way; | 10 | ·········· |
| There lurk the dragon-race, deep caves among, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| O’er beetling rocks there foams the torrent-spray. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Know’st thou it well? | 4 | ···· |
| With thee, with thee, | 4 | ···· |
| There lies my path, O father! let us flee! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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.