The Annunciation
Lowliest of women, and most glorified!In thy still beauty sitting calm and lone,A brightness round thee grew--and by thy side,Kindling the air, a form ethereal shone,Solemn, yet breathing gladness. From her throneA queen had risen with more imperial eye,A stately prophetess of victoryFrom her proud lyre had struck a tempest’s tone,For such high tidings as to thee were brought,Chosen of heaven! that hour: but thou, oh! thou,E’en as a flower with gracious rains o’erfraught,Thy virgin head beneath its crown didst bow,And take to thy meek breast th’ all-holy word,And own thyself the handmaid of the Lord.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- prophetess n.
- A female prophet. [Cf. F. prophétesse, L. prophetissa.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- handmaid n.
- A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Annunciation 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, The Annunciation, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-annunciation.html, id L19746.
Form and metre
The Annunciation is 14 lines in a single stanza. 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 ABABB--BCDCD-- glorifiedA · loneB · sideA · shoneB · throneB · eye · victory · toneB · broughtC · thouD · o'erfraughtC · bowD · word · lord
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lowliest of women, and most glorified! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In thy still beauty sitting calm and lone, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A brightness round thee grew--and by thy side, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Kindling the air, a form ethereal shone, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Solemn, yet breathing gladness. From her throne | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| A queen had risen with more imperial eye, | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘· |
| A stately prophetess of victory | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| From her proud lyre had struck a tempest’s tone, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For such high tidings as to thee were brought, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Chosen of heaven! that hour: but thou, oh! thou, | 10 | /˘·/·/···· |
| E’en as a flower with gracious rains o’erfraught, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Thy virgin head beneath its crown didst bow, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And take to thy meek breast th’ all-holy word, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And own thyself the handmaid of the Lord. | 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.