Moorish Bridal-Song
The citron-groves their fruit and flowers were strewingAround a Moorish palace, while the sighOf low sweet summer winds the branches wooingWith music through their shadowy bowers went by;Music and voices, from the marble hallsThrough the leaves gleaming, and the fountain-falls.
A song of joy, a bridal-song came swellingTo blend with fragrance in those southern shades,And told of feasts within the stately dwelling,Bright lamps, and dancing steps, and gem-crown’d maids;And thus it flow’d:--yet something in the layBelong’d to sadness, as it died away.
“The bride comes forth! her tears no more are fallingTo leave the chamber of her infant years;Kind voices from a distant home are calling;She comes like day-spring--she hath done with tears;Now must her dark eye shine on other flowers,Her soft smile gladden other hearts than ours!--Pour the rich odours round!
“We haste! the chosen and the lovely bringing;Love still goes with her from her place of birth;Deep, silent joy within her soul is springing,Though in her glance the light no more is mirth!Her beauty leaves us in its rosy years;Her sisters weep--but she hath done with tears!--Now may the timbrel sound!”
Know’st thou for whom they sang the bridal numbers?--One, whose rich tresses were to wave no more!One, whose pale cheek soft winds, nor gentle slumbers,Nor Love’s own sigh, to rose-tints might restore!Her graceful ringlets o’er a bier were spread.Weep for the young, the beautiful,--the dead!
Words in this poem
- strewing n.
- The act of scattering or spreading.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- gladden v. t.
- To make glad; to cheer; to please; to gratify; to rejoice; to exhilarate. [See Glad, v. t.]
- timbrel n.
- A kind of drum, tabor, or tabret, in use from the highest antiquity. [Dim. of OE. timbre, OF. timbre; probably fr. L. typmanum, Gr. tabl a drum; cf. Per. tambal a drum. See Tympanum, and cf. 2d Timbre, Tymbal.]
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Moorish Bridal-Song 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, Moorish Bridal-Song, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/moorish-bridal-song.html, id L19327.
Form and metre
Moorish Bridal-Song is 32 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCC strewingA · sighB · wooingA · byB · hallsC · fallsC
- 2 ABABCC swellingA · shadesB · dwellingA · maidsB · layC · awayC
- 3 -A-ABB- falling · yearsA · calling · tearsA · flowersB · oursB · round
- 4 ABABCC- bringingA · birthB · springingA · mirthB · yearsC · tearsC · sound
- 5 ABABCC numbersA · moreB · slumbersA · restoreB · spreadC · deadC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The citron-groves their fruit and flowers were strewing | 11 | ·/˘····/·/˘ |
| Around a Moorish palace, while the sigh | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Of low sweet summer winds the branches wooing | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| With music through their shadowy bowers went by; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/·· |
| Music and voices, from the marble halls | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Through the leaves gleaming, and the fountain-falls. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A song of joy, a bridal-song came swelling | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| To blend with fragrance in those southern shades, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And told of feasts within the stately dwelling, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Bright lamps, and dancing steps, and gem-crown’d maids; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And thus it flow’d:--yet something in the lay | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Belong’d to sadness, as it died away. | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| “The bride comes forth! her tears no more are falling | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To leave the chamber of her infant years; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Kind voices from a distant home are calling; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| She comes like day-spring--she hath done with tears; | 10 | ·········· |
| Now must her dark eye shine on other flowers, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Her soft smile gladden other hearts than ours!-- | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Pour the rich odours round! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “We haste! the chosen and the lovely bringing; | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Love still goes with her from her place of birth; | 10 | ·········· |
| Deep, silent joy within her soul is springing, | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Though in her glance the light no more is mirth! | 10 | ·········· |
| Her beauty leaves us in its rosy years; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Her sisters weep--but she hath done with tears!-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Now may the timbrel sound!” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Know’st thou for whom they sang the bridal numbers?-- | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| One, whose rich tresses were to wave no more! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| One, whose pale cheek soft winds, nor gentle slumbers, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Nor Love’s own sigh, to rose-tints might restore! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Her graceful ringlets o’er a bier were spread. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Weep for the young, the beautiful,--the dead! | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
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