Laurel · Felicia Hemans · Poems

Roman Girl’s Song

Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) · 1808–1835

iambic trimeter · ABAB · 50 lines · from Poems

“Roma, Roma, Roma!Non e piu come era prima.”

Rome, Rome! thou art no moreAs thou hast been!On thy seven hills of yoreThou sat’st a queen.

Thou hadst thy triumphs thenPurpling the street,Leaders and sceptred menBow’d at thy feet.

They that thy mantle wore,As gods were seen--Rome, Rome! thou art no moreAs thou hast been!

Rome! thine imperial browNever shall rise:What hast thou left thee now?--Thou hast thy skies!

Blue, deeply blue, they are,Gloriously bright!Veiling thy wastes afarWith colour’d light.

Thou hast the sunset’s glow,Rome! for thy dower,Flushing tall cypress-bough,Temple and tower!

And all sweet sounds are thine,Lovely to hear,While night, o’er tomb and shrine,Rests darkly clear.

Many a solemn hymn,By starlight sung,Sweeps through the arches dim,Thy wrecks among.

Many a flute’s low swell,On thy soft airLingers and loves to dwellWith summer there.

Thou hast the south’s rich giftOf sudden song--A charm’d fountain, swift,Joyous and strong.

Thou hast fair forms that moveWith queenly tread;Thou hast proud fanes aboveThy mighty dead.

Yet wears thy Tiber’s shoreA mournful mien:--Rome, Rome! thou art no moreAs thou hast been!

Words in this poem

hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
yore adv.: In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
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,]
veiling n.: A veil; a thin covering; also, material for making veils.
afar adv.: At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
starlight n.: The light given by the stars.
dwell v. i.: To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
queenly a.: Like, becoming, or suitable to, a queen. [AS. cwenlic feminine.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Roman Girl’s 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, Roman Girl’s Song, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/roman-girl-s-song.html, id L19457.

Form and metre

Roman Girl’s Song is 50 lines in 13 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).

See other poems in iambic trimeter.

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.

2 A-A- more^A · been · yore^A · queen
3 ABAB then^A · street^B · men^A · feet^B
4 A-A- wore^A · seen · more^A · been
5 ABAB brow^A · rise^B · now^A · skies^B
6 ABAB are^A · bright^B · afar^A · light^B
8 ABAB thine^A · hear^B · shrine^A · clear^B
9 ABAB hymn^A · sung^B · dim^A · among^B
10 ABAB swell^A · air^B · dwell^A · there^B
11 ABAB gift^A · song^B · swift^A · strong^B
12 ABAB move^A · tread^B · above^A · dead^B
13 A-A- shore^A · mien · more^A · been

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
“Roma, Roma, Roma!	6	/˘/˘/˘
Non e piu come era prima.”	8	····/˘/˘
Rome, Rome! thou art no more	6	······
As thou hast been!	4	····
On thy seven hills of yore	7	··/˘···
Thou sat’st a queen.	4	····
Thou hadst thy triumphs then	6	···/˘·
Purpling the street,	5	/˘˘··
Leaders and sceptred men	6	/˘·/˘·
Bow’d at thy feet.	4	····
They that thy mantle wore,	6	···/˘·
As gods were seen--	4	····
Rome, Rome! thou art no more	6	······
As thou hast been!	4	····
Rome! thine imperial brow	7	··˘/˘˘·
Never shall rise:	4	/˘··
What hast thou left thee now?--	6	······
Thou hast thy skies!	4	····
Blue, deeply blue, they are,	6	·/˘···
Gloriously bright!	5	/˘˘˘·
Veiling thy wastes afar	6	/˘··˘/
With colour’d light.	4	·/˘·
Thou hast the sunset’s glow,	6	···/··
Rome! for thy dower,	4	····
Flushing tall cypress-bough,	6	/˘·/˘·
Temple and tower!	5	/˘·/˘
And all sweet sounds are thine,	6	······
Lovely to hear,	4	/˘··
While night, o’er tomb and shrine,	6	······
Rests darkly clear.	4	·/˘·
Many a solemn hymn,	6	/˘·/˘·
By starlight sung,	4	·/··
Sweeps through the arches dim,	6	···/˘·
Thy wrecks among.	4	····
Many a flute’s low swell,	6	/˘····
On thy soft air	4	····
Lingers and loves to dwell	6	/˘····
With summer there.	4	·/˘·
Thou hast the south’s rich gift	6	······
Of sudden song--	4	·/˘·
A charm’d fountain, swift,	5	··/˘·
Joyous and strong.	4	/˘··
Thou hast fair forms that move	6	······
With queenly tread;	4	·/˘·
Thou hast proud fanes above	6	······
Thy mighty dead.	4	·/˘·
Yet wears thy Tiber’s shore	6	···/˘·
A mournful mien:--	4	·/˘·
Rome, Rome! thou art no more	6	······
As thou hast been!	4	····

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.

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