Second-Sight
“Ne’er err’d the prophet-heart that grief inspired,Though joy’s illusions mock their votarist.”--Maturin.
A mournful gift is mine, O friends!A mournful gift is mine!A murmur of the soul which blendsWith the flow of song and wine.
An eye that through the triumph’s hourBeholds the coming woe,And dwells upon the faded flowerMidst the rich summer’s glow.
Ye smile to view fair faces bloomWhere the father’s board is spread;I see the stillness and the gloomOf a home whence all are fled.
I see the wither’d garlands lieForsaken on the earth,While the lamps yet burn, and the dancers flyThrough the ringing hall of mirth.
I see the blood-red future stainOn the warrior’s gorgeous crest;And the bier amidst the bridal trainWhen they come with roses drest.
I hear the still small moan of timeThrough the ivy branches made,Where the palace, in its glory’s prime,With the sunshine stands array’d.
The thunder of the seas I hear,The shriek along the wave,When the bark sweeps forth, and song and cheerSalute the parting brave.
With every breeze a spirit sendsTo me some warning sign,--A mournful gift is mine, O friends!A mournful gift is mine!
O prophet-heart! thy grief, thy power,To all deep souls belong--The shadow in the sunny hour,The wail in the mirthful song.
Their sight is all too sadly clear--For them a veil is riven;Their piercing thoughts repose not here,Their home is but in heaven.
Words in this poem
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Second-Sight 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, Second-Sight, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/second-sight.html, id L19526.
Form and metre
Second-Sight is 42 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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.
- 2 ABAB friendsA · mineB · blendsA · wineB
- 3 ABAB hourA · woeB · flowerA · glowB
- 4 ABAB bloomA · spreadB · gloomA · fledB
- 5 ABAB lieA · earthB · flyA · mirthB
- 6 ABAB stainA · crestB · trainA · drestB
- 7 ABAB timeA · madeB · primeA · array'dB
- 8 ABAB hearA · waveB · cheerA · braveB
- 9 ABAB sendsA · signB · friendsA · mineB
- 10 ABAB powerA · belongB · hourA · songB
- 11 A-A- clearA · riven · hereA · heaven
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Ne’er err’d the prophet-heart that grief inspired, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Though joy’s illusions mock their votarist.”--Maturin. | 13 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘··· |
| A mournful gift is mine, O friends! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A mournful gift is mine! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A murmur of the soul which blends | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With the flow of song and wine. | 7 | ······· |
| An eye that through the triumph’s hour | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Beholds the coming woe, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And dwells upon the faded flower | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Midst the rich summer’s glow. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ye smile to view fair faces bloom | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where the father’s board is spread; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I see the stillness and the gloom | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of a home whence all are fled. | 7 | ······· |
| I see the wither’d garlands lie | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Forsaken on the earth, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| While the lamps yet burn, and the dancers fly | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Through the ringing hall of mirth. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I see the blood-red future stain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On the warrior’s gorgeous crest; | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| And the bier amidst the bridal train | 9 | ···˘/·/˘· |
| When they come with roses drest. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I hear the still small moan of time | 8 | ········ |
| Through the ivy branches made, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Where the palace, in its glory’s prime, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| With the sunshine stands array’d. | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| The thunder of the seas I hear, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The shriek along the wave, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| When the bark sweeps forth, and song and cheer | 9 | ········· |
| Salute the parting brave. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| With every breeze a spirit sends | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| To me some warning sign,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A mournful gift is mine, O friends! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A mournful gift is mine! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O prophet-heart! thy grief, thy power, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| To all deep souls belong-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The shadow in the sunny hour, | 9 | ·/···/˘/˘ |
| The wail in the mirthful song. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Their sight is all too sadly clear-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For them a veil is riven; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Their piercing thoughts repose not here, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Their home is but in heaven. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.