The Fountain of Marah
“And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters ofMarah, for they were bitter.
Where is the tree the prophet threwInto the bitter wave?Left it no scion where it grew,The thirsting soul to save?
Hath nature lost the hidden powerIts precious foliage shed?Is there no distant Eastern bowerWith such sweet leaves o’erspread?
Nay, wherefore ask?--since gifts are oursWhich yet may well imbueEarth’s many troubled founts with showersOf heaven’s own balmy dew.
Oh! mingled with the cup of griefLet faith’s deep spirit be!And every prayer shall win a leafFrom that bless’d healing tree!
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fountain of Marah 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 Fountain of Marah, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-fountain-of-marah.html, id L19558.
Form and metre
The Fountain of Marah is 18 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 threwA · waveB · grewA · saveB
- 3 ABAB powerA · shedB · bowerA · o'erspreadB
- 4 ABAB oursA · imbueB · showersA · dewB
- 5 ABAB griefA · beB · leafA · treeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of | 16 | ·············/˘· |
| Marah, for they were bitter. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Where is the tree the prophet threw | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Into the bitter wave? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Left it no scion where it grew, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The thirsting soul to save? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Hath nature lost the hidden power | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Its precious foliage shed? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Is there no distant Eastern bower | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| With such sweet leaves o’erspread? | 6 | ······ |
| Nay, wherefore ask?--since gifts are ours | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Which yet may well imbue | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Earth’s many troubled founts with showers | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Of heaven’s own balmy dew. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Oh! mingled with the cup of grief | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Let faith’s deep spirit be! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And every prayer shall win a leaf | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| From that bless’d healing tree! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.