On the Datura Arborea
Majestic plant! such fairy dreams as lie,Nursed, where the bee sucks in the cowslip’s bell,Are not thy train. Those flowers of vase-like swell,Clear, large, with dewy moonlight fill’d from high,And in their monumental puritySerenely drooping, round thee seem to drawVisions link’d strangely with that silent aweWhich broods o’er sculpture’s works. A meet allyFor those heroic forms, the simply grandArt thou: and worthy, carved by plastic hand,Above some kingly poet’s tomb to shineIn spotless marble; honouring one whose strainSoar’d, upon wings of thought that knew no stain,Free through the starry heavens of truth divine.
Words in this poem
- cowslip n.
- A common flower in England (Primula veris) having yellow blossoms and appearing in early spring. It is often cultivated in the United States. [AS. c, c, prob. orig., cow's droppings. Cf. Slop, n.]
- monumental a.
- Of, pertaining to, or suitable for, a monument; as, a monumental inscription. [L. monumentalis: cf. F. monumental.]
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Datura Arborea 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 the Datura Arborea, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/on-the-datura-arborea.html, id L19820.
Form and metre
On the Datura Arborea is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABBA-CCADDEFFE lieA · bellB · swellB · highA · purity · drawC · aweC · allyA · grandD · handD · shineE · strainF · stainF · divineE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Majestic plant! such fairy dreams as lie, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Nursed, where the bee sucks in the cowslip’s bell, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Are not thy train. Those flowers of vase-like swell, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Clear, large, with dewy moonlight fill’d from high, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| And in their monumental purity | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Serenely drooping, round thee seem to draw | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Visions link’d strangely with that silent awe | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Which broods o’er sculpture’s works. A meet ally | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| For those heroic forms, the simply grand | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Art thou: and worthy, carved by plastic hand, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Above some kingly poet’s tomb to shine | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In spotless marble; honouring one whose strain | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Soar’d, upon wings of thought that knew no stain, | 10 | ·········· |
| Free through the starry heavens of truth divine. | 11 | ···/˘/˘··˘/ |
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.