Song of Emigration

Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) · 1808–1835

iambic tetrameter · octosyllabic couplets · 50 lines · from Poems

There was heard a song on the chiming sea.A mingled breathing of grief and glee;Man’s voice, unbroken by sighs, was there,Filling with triumph the sunny air;Of fresh, green lands, and of pastures new,It sang, while the bark through the surges flew.

But ever and anonA murmur of farewellTold, by its plaintive tone,That from woman’s lip it fell.

“Away, away o’er the foaming main!”This was the free and the joyous strain,“There are clearer skies than ours, afar,We will shape our course by a brighter star;There are plains whose verdure no foot hath press’d,And whose wealth is all for the first brave guest.”

“But, alas! that we should go,”Sang the farewell voices then,“From the homesteads, warm and low,By the brook and in the glen!”

“We will rear new homes under trees that glowAs if gems were the fruitage of every bough;O’er our white walls we will train the vine,And sit in its shadow at day’s decline;And watch our herds, as they range at willThrough the green savannas, all bright and still.

“But woe for that sweet shadeOf the flowering orchard-trees,Where first our children play’dMidst the birds and honey-bees!

“All, all our own shall the forests be,As to the bound of the roebuck free!None shall say, ‘Hither, no further pass!’We will track each step through the wavy grassWe will chase the elk in his speed and might,And bring proud spoils to the hearth at night.”

“But, oh! the gray church-tower,And the sound of Sabbath bell,And the shelter’d garden-bower,We have bid them all farewell!

“We will give the names of our fearless raceTo each bright river whose course we trace;We will leave our memory with mounts and floods,And the path of our daring in boundless woods;And our works unto many a lake’s green shore,Where the Indians’ graves lay, alone, before.”

“But who shall teach the flowers,Which our children loved, to dwellIn a soil that is not ours?Home, home and friends, farewell!”

Words in this poem

glee n.: Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
sunny a.: Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
anon adv.: Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
clearer n.: One who, or that which, clears.
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.]
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
fruitage n.: Fruit, collectively; fruit, in general; fruitery. [F. fruitage.]
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,]
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]

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

About this text

Song of Emigration 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, Song of Emigration, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/song-of-emigration.html, id L19476.

Form and metre

Song of Emigration is 50 lines in 10 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 52% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).

See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.

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 AABBCC sea^A · glee^A · there^B · air^B · new^C · flew^C
2 -A-A anon · farewell^A · tone · fell^A
3 AABBCC main^A · strain^A · afar^B · star^B · press'd^C · guest^C
4 ABAB go^A · then^B · low^A · glen^B
5 --AABB glow · bough · vine^A · decline^A · will^B · still^B
6 ABAB shade^A · trees^B · play'd^A · bees^B
7 AABBCC be^A · free^A · pass^B · grass^B · might^C · night^C
8 ABAB tower^A · bell^B · bower^A · farewell^B
9 AA--BB race^A · trace^A · floods · woods · shore^B · before^B
10 ABAB flowers^A · dwell^B · ours^A · farewell^B

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 tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
There was heard a song on the chiming sea.	10	·······/˘·
A mingled breathing of grief and glee;	10	·/˘˘/˘····
Man’s voice, unbroken by sighs, was there,	9	··˘/˘····
Filling with triumph the sunny air;	9	/˘·/˘·/˘·
Of fresh, green lands, and of pastures new,	9	······/˘·
It sang, while the bark through the surges flew.	10	·······/˘·
But ever and anon	6	·/˘·˘/
A murmur of farewell	6	·/˘··/
Told, by its plaintive tone,	6	···/˘·
That from woman’s lip it fell.	7	··/˘···
“Away, away o’er the foaming main!”	9	˘/˘/··/˘·
This was the free and the joyous strain,	9	······/˘·
“There are clearer skies than ours, afar,	10	··/˘··/˘˘/
We will shape our course by a brighter star;	10	···/···/˘·
There are plains whose verdure no foot hath press’d,	10	····/˘····
And whose wealth is all for the first brave guest.”	10	··········
“But, alas! that we should go,”	7	·˘/····
Sang the farewell voices then,	7	···//˘·
“From the homesteads, warm and low,	7	··/····
By the brook and in the glen!”	7	·······
“We will rear new homes under trees that glow	10	··········
As if gems were the fruitage of every bough;	11	·····/˘·/˘·
O’er our white walls we will train the vine,	10	·/˘·······
And sit in its shadow at day’s decline;	10	····/···˘/
And watch our herds, as they range at will	10	··/˘······
Through the green savannas, all bright and still.	10	···˘/˘····
“But woe for that sweet shade	6	······
Of the flowering orchard-trees,	8	··/˘˘/˘·
Where first our children play’d	7	··/˘/˘·
Midst the birds and honey-bees!	7	····/˘·
“All, all our own shall the forests be,	10	··/˘···/˘·
As to the bound of the roebuck free!	9	······/··
None shall say, ‘Hither, no further pass!’	9	···/˘·/˘·
We will track each step through the wavy grass	10	·······/˘·
We will chase the elk in his speed and might,	10	··········
And bring proud spoils to the hearth at night.”	9	·········
“But, oh! the gray church-tower,	7	·····/˘
And the sound of Sabbath bell,	7	····/˘·
And the shelter’d garden-bower,	8	··/˘/˘/˘
We have bid them all farewell!	7	······/
“We will give the names of our fearless race	10	······//˘·
To each bright river whose course we trace;	9	···/˘····
We will leave our memory with mounts and floods,	10	···//˘····
And the path of our daring in boundless woods;	11	····//˘·/˘·
And our works unto many a lake’s green shore,	10	·/···/····
Where the Indians’ graves lay, alone, before.”	10	··/˘··˘/··
“But who shall teach the flowers,	7	·····/˘
Which our children loved, to dwell	9	·/˘/˘·˘··
In a soil that is not ours?	8	······/˘
Home, home and friends, farewell!”	6	·····/

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