Stanzas to the Memory of
In the full tide of melody and mirth,While joy’s bright spirit beams from every eye,Forget not him, whose soul, though fled from earth,Seems yet to speak in strains that cannot die.
Forget him not, for many a festal hour,Charm’d by those strains, for us has lightly flown:And memory’s visions, mingling with their power,Wake the heart’s thrill at each familiar tone.
Blest be the harmonist, whose well-known laysRevive life’s morning dreams, when youth is fled,And, fraught with images of other days,Recall the loved, the absent, and the dead.
His the dear art whose spells awhile renewHope’s first illusions in their tenderest bloom--Oh! what were life, unless such moments threwBright gleams, “like angel visits,” o’er its gloom?
Words in this poem
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- harmonist n.
- One who shows the agreement or harmony of corresponding passages of different authors, as of the four evangelists. [Cf. F. harmoniste.]
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas to the Memory of 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, Stanzas to the Memory of, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/stanzas-to-the-memory-of.html, id L19362.
Form and metre
Stanzas to the Memory of is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 ABAB mirthA · eyeB · earthA · dieB
- 2 ABAB hourA · flownB · powerA · toneB
- 3 ABAB laysA · fledB · daysA · deadB
- 4 ABAB renewA · bloomB · threwA · gloomB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the full tide of melody and mirth, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| While joy’s bright spirit beams from every eye, | 10 | ···/··/˘˘· |
| Forget not him, whose soul, though fled from earth, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Seems yet to speak in strains that cannot die. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Forget him not, for many a festal hour, | 11 | ˘/···/·/˘/˘ |
| Charm’d by those strains, for us has lightly flown: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And memory’s visions, mingling with their power, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/ |
| Wake the heart’s thrill at each familiar tone. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Blest be the harmonist, whose well-known lays | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Revive life’s morning dreams, when youth is fled, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| And, fraught with images of other days, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Recall the loved, the absent, and the dead. | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| His the dear art whose spells awhile renew | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Hope’s first illusions in their tenderest bloom-- | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Oh! what were life, unless such moments threw | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bright gleams, “like angel visits,” o’er its gloom? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
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.