The Breeze from Shore
Joy is upon the lonely seas,When Indian forests pourForth, to the billow and the breeze,Their odours from the shore;Joy, when the soft air’s fanning sighBears on the breath of Araby.
Oh! welcome are the winds that tellA wanderer of the deepWhere, far away, the jasmines dwell,And where the myrrh-trees weep!Blest on the sounding surge and foamAre tidings of the citron’s home!
The sailor at the helm they meet,And hope his bosom stirs,Upspringing, midst the waves, to greetThe fair earth’s messengers,That woo him, from the moaning main,Back to her glorious bowers again.
They woo him, whispering lovely talesOf many a flowering glade,And fount’s bright gleam, in island valesOf golden-fruited shade:Across his lone ship’s wake they bringA vision and a glow of spring.
And, O ye masters of the lay!Come not even thus your songsThat meet us on life’s weary way,Amidst her toiling throngs?Yes! o’er the spirit thus they bearA current of celestial air.
Their power is from the brighter climeThat in our birth hath part;Their tones are of the world, which timeSears not within the heart:They tell us of the living lightIn its green places ever bright.
They call us, with a voice divine,Back to our early love,--Our vows of youth at many a shrine,Whence far and fast we rove.Welcome high thought and holy strainThat make us Truth’s and Heaven’s again!
Words in this poem
- billow n.
- A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.]
- araby n.
- The country of Arabia.
- 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]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- 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]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Breeze from Shore 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 Breeze from Shore, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-breeze-from-shore.html, id L19395.
Form and metre
The Breeze from Shore is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See 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 ABAB-- seasA · pourB · breezeA · shoreB · sigh · araby
- 2 ABABCC tellA · deepB · dwellA · weepB · foamC · homeC
- 3 ABABCC meetA · stirsB · greetA · messengersB · mainC · againC
- 4 ABABCC talesA · gladeB · valesA · shadeB · bringC · springC
- 5 ABABCC layA · songsB · wayA · throngsB · bearC · airC
- 6 ABABCC climeA · partB · timeA · heartB · lightC · brightC
- 7 A-A-BB divineA · love · shrineA · rove · strainB · againB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Joy is upon the lonely seas, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When Indian forests pour | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Forth, to the billow and the breeze, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their odours from the shore; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Joy, when the soft air’s fanning sigh | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bears on the breath of Araby. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Oh! welcome are the winds that tell | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A wanderer of the deep | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Where, far away, the jasmines dwell, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And where the myrrh-trees weep! | 6 | ······ |
| Blest on the sounding surge and foam | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Are tidings of the citron’s home! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The sailor at the helm they meet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And hope his bosom stirs, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Upspringing, midst the waves, to greet | 8 | ········ |
| The fair earth’s messengers, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| That woo him, from the moaning main, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Back to her glorious bowers again. | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| They woo him, whispering lovely tales | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of many a flowering glade, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And fount’s bright gleam, in island vales | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of golden-fruited shade: | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Across his lone ship’s wake they bring | 8 | ˘/······ |
| A vision and a glow of spring. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, O ye masters of the lay! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Come not even thus your songs | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That meet us on life’s weary way, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Amidst her toiling throngs? | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Yes! o’er the spirit thus they bear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A current of celestial air. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Their power is from the brighter clime | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| That in our birth hath part; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Their tones are of the world, which time | 8 | ········ |
| Sears not within the heart: | 6 | ······ |
| They tell us of the living light | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In its green places ever bright. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| They call us, with a voice divine, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Back to our early love,-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Our vows of youth at many a shrine, | 8 | /····/·· |
| Whence far and fast we rove. | 6 | ······ |
| Welcome high thought and holy strain | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| That make us Truth’s and Heaven’s again! | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
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.