Mother’s Litany by the Sickbed of a Child
Saviour, that of woman born,Mother-sorrow didst not scorn--Thou, with whose last anguish stroveOne dear thought of earthly love--Hear and aid!
Low he lies, my precious child,With his spirit wandering wildFrom its gladsome tasks and play,And its bright thoughts far away--Saviour, aid!
Pain sits heavy on his brow,E’en though slumber seal it now;Round his lip is quivering strife,In his hand unquiet life--Aid! oh, aid!
Saviour! loose the burning chainFrom his fever’d heart and brain,Give, oh! give his young soul backInto its own cloudless track!Hear and aid!
Thou that saidst, “Awake! arise!”E’en when death had quench’d the eyes--In this hour of grief’s deep sighing,When o’erwearied hope is dying,Hear and aid!
Yet, oh! make him thine, all thine,Saviour! whether Death’s or mine!Yet, oh! pour on human love,Strength, trust, patience, from above!Hear and aid!
Words in this poem
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- gladsome a.
- Pleased; joyful; cheerful.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- unquiet v. t.
- To disquiet. Ld. Herbert. [1st pref. un- + quiet.]
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mother’s Litany by the Sickbed of a Child 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, Mother’s Litany by the Sickbed of a Child, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/mother-s-litany-by-the-sickbed-of-a-child.html, id L19738.
Form and metre
Mother’s Litany by the Sickbed of a Child is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AA--- bornA · scornA · strove · love · aid
- 2 AABB- childA · wildA · playB · awayB · aid
- 3 AABB- browA · nowA · strifeB · lifeB · aid
- 4 AABB- chainA · brainA · backB · trackB · aid
- 5 AABB- ariseA · eyesA · sighingB · dyingB · aid
- 6 AABB- thineA · mineA · loveB · aboveB · aid
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Saviour, that of woman born, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Mother-sorrow didst not scorn-- | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Thou, with whose last anguish strove | 7 | ····/˘· |
| One dear thought of earthly love-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hear and aid! | 3 | ··· |
| Low he lies, my precious child, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With his spirit wandering wild | 7 | ··//˘˘· |
| From its gladsome tasks and play, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And its bright thoughts far away-- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Saviour, aid! | 3 | /˘· |
| Pain sits heavy on his brow, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| E’en though slumber seal it now; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Round his lip is quivering strife, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In his hand unquiet life-- | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Aid! oh, aid! | 3 | ··· |
| Saviour! loose the burning chain | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| From his fever’d heart and brain, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Give, oh! give his young soul back | 7 | ······· |
| Into its own cloudless track! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Hear and aid! | 3 | ··· |
| Thou that saidst, “Awake! arise!” | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| E’en when death had quench’d the eyes-- | 7 | ······· |
| In this hour of grief’s deep sighing, | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| When o’erwearied hope is dying, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Hear and aid! | 3 | ··· |
| Yet, oh! make him thine, all thine, | 7 | ······· |
| Saviour! whether Death’s or mine! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Yet, oh! pour on human love, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Strength, trust, patience, from above! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Hear and aid! | 3 | ··· |
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.