On a Similar Occasion
Thou wakest from rosy sleep, to playWith bounding heart, my boy!Before thee lies a long bright dayOf summer and of joy.
Thou hast no heavy thought or dreamTo cloud thy fearless eye:Long be it thus!--life’s early streamShould still reflect the sky.
Yet, ere the cares of life lie dimOn thy young spirit’s wings,Now in thy mom forget not HimFrom whom each pure thought springs.
So, in the onward vale of tears,Where’er thy path may be,When strength hath bow’d to evil years,He will remember thee!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On a Similar Occasion 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, On a Similar Occasion, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/on-a-similar-occasion.html, id L19352.
Form and metre
On a Similar Occasion is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 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 ABAB playA · boyB · dayA · joyB
- 2 ABAB dreamA · eyeB · streamA · skyB
- 3 ABAB dimA · wingsB · himA · springsB
- 4 ABAB tearsA · beB · yearsA · theeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou wakest from rosy sleep, to play | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| With bounding heart, my boy! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Before thee lies a long bright day | 8 | ········ |
| Of summer and of joy. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thou hast no heavy thought or dream | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To cloud thy fearless eye: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Long be it thus!--life’s early stream | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Should still reflect the sky. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Yet, ere the cares of life lie dim | 8 | ········ |
| On thy young spirit’s wings, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now in thy mom forget not Him | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| From whom each pure thought springs. | 6 | ······ |
| So, in the onward vale of tears, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where’er thy path may be, | 7 | ˘˘/···· |
| When strength hath bow’d to evil years, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He will remember thee! | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
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.