Music at a Deathbed
“Music! why thy power employOnly for the sons of joy?Only for the smiling guestsAt natal or at nuptial feasts?Rather thy lenient numbers pourOn those whom secret griefs devour;And with some softly-whisper’d airSmooth the brow of dumb despair!”Warton from Euripides.
Bring music! stir the brooding airWith an ethereal breath!Bring sounds, my struggling soul to bearUp from the couch of death!
A voice, a flute, a dreamy lay,Such as the southern breezeMight waft, at golden fall of day,O’er blue, transparent seas!
Oh, no! not such! That lingering spellWould lure me back to life,When my wean’d heart hath said farewell,And pass’d the gates of strife.
Let not a sigh of human loveBlend with the song its tone!Let no disturbing echo moveOne that must die alone!
But pour a solemn-breathing strainFill’d with the soul of prayer!Let a life’s conflict, fear, and pain,And trembling hope be there.
Deeper, yet deeper! In my thoughtLies more prevailing sound,A harmony intensely fraughtWith pleading more profound:
A passion unto music given,A sweet, yet piercing cry;A breaking heart’s appeal to Heaven,A bright faith’s victory!
Deeper! Oh! may no richer powerBe in those notes enshrined?Can all which crowds on earth’s last hourNo fuller language find?
Away! and hush the feeble song,And let the chord be still’d!Far in another land ere longMy dream shall be fulfill’d.
Words in this poem
- natal a.
- Of or pertaining to one's birth; accompying or dating from one's birth; native. [L. natalis, fr. natus, p.p. of nasci to be born: cf. F. natal. See Nation, and cf. Noel.]
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- 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.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- intensely adv.
- Intently. J. Spencer.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Music at a Deathbed 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, Music at a Deathbed, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/music-at-a-deathbed.html, id L19669.
Form and metre
Music at a Deathbed is 45 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AA----BB- employA · joyA · guests · feasts · pour · devour · airB · despairB · euripides
- 2 ABAB airA · breathB · bearA · deathB
- 3 ABAB layA · breezeB · dayA · seasB
- 4 ABAB spellA · lifeB · farewellA · strifeB
- 5 ABAB loveA · toneB · moveA · aloneB
- 6 ABAB strainA · prayerB · painA · thereB
- 7 ABAB thoughtA · soundB · fraughtA · profoundB
- 9 ABAB powerA · enshrinedB · hourA · findB
- 10 ABAB songA · still'dB · longA · fulfill'dB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Music! why thy power employ | 8 | /˘··/˘˘/ |
| Only for the sons of joy? | 7 | /˘····· |
| Only for the smiling guests | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| At natal or at nuptial feasts? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Rather thy lenient numbers pour | 9 | /˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| On those whom secret griefs devour; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| And with some softly-whisper’d air | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Smooth the brow of dumb despair!” | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Warton from Euripides. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Bring music! stir the brooding air | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With an ethereal breath! | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Bring sounds, my struggling soul to bear | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Up from the couch of death! | 6 | ······ |
| A voice, a flute, a dreamy lay, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Such as the southern breeze | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Might waft, at golden fall of day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O’er blue, transparent seas! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Oh, no! not such! That lingering spell | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Would lure me back to life, | 6 | ······ |
| When my wean’d heart hath said farewell, | 8 | ·······/ |
| And pass’d the gates of strife. | 6 | ······ |
| Let not a sigh of human love | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Blend with the song its tone! | 6 | ······ |
| Let no disturbing echo move | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| One that must die alone! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But pour a solemn-breathing strain | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Fill’d with the soul of prayer! | 6 | ······ |
| Let a life’s conflict, fear, and pain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And trembling hope be there. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Deeper, yet deeper! In my thought | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Lies more prevailing sound, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| A harmony intensely fraught | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| With pleading more profound: | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| A passion unto music given, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| A sweet, yet piercing cry; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A breaking heart’s appeal to Heaven, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| A bright faith’s victory! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Deeper! Oh! may no richer power | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Be in those notes enshrined? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Can all which crowds on earth’s last hour | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| No fuller language find? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Away! and hush the feeble song, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And let the chord be still’d! | 6 | ······ |
| Far in another land ere long | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| My dream shall be fulfill’d. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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