The Ivy-Song
Oh! how could fancy crown with thee,In ancient days, the God of Wine,And bid thee at the banquet beCompanion of the Vine?Ivy! thy home is where each soundOf revelry hath long been o’er;Where song and beaker once went round,But now are known no more;Where long-fallen gods recline,There the place is thine.
The Roman, on his battle-plains,Where kings before his eagles bent,With thee, amidst exulting strains,Shadow’d the victor’s tent.Though, shining there in deathless green,Triumphantly thy boughs might wave,Better thou lovest the silent sceneAround the victor’s grave--Urn and sculpture half divineYield their place to thine.
The cold halls of the regal dead,Where lone the Italian sunbeams dwell,Where hollow sounds the lightest tread--Ivy! they know thee well!And far above the festal vineThou wavest where once proud banners hung,Where mouldering turrets crest the Rhine--The Rhine, still fresh and young!Tower and rampart o’er the Rhine,Ivy! all are thine!
High from the fields of air look downThose eyries of a vanish’d race,Where harp, and battle, and renown,Have pass’d, and left no trace.But thou art there!--serenely bright,Meeting the mountain-storms with bloom,Thou that wilt climb the loftiest height,Or crown the lowliest tomb!Ivy! Ivy! all are thine,Palace, hearth, and shrine.
’Tis still the same: our pilgrim-treadO’er classic plains, through deserts free,On the mute path of ages fled,Still meets decay and thee.And still let man his fabrics rear,August in beauty, stern in power--Days pass--thou Ivy never sere,And thou shalt have thy dower.All are thine, or must be thine--Temple, pillar, shrine!
Words in this poem
- beaker n.
- A large drinking cup, with a wide mouth, supported on a foot or standard. [OE. biker; akin to Icel. bikarr, Sw. bägare, Dan. baeger, G. becher, It. bicchiere; -- all fr. LL. bicarium, prob. fr. Gr. wine jar, or perh. L. bacar wine vess]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- triumphantly adv.
- In a triumphant manner.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- 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]
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ivy-Song 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 Ivy-Song, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-ivy-song.html, id L19674.
Form and metre
The Ivy-Song is 50 lines in 5 stanzas of 10 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEE, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABC-C-BB theeA · wineB · beA · vineB · soundC · o'er · roundC · more · reclineB · thineB
- 2 ABABCDCDEE plainsA · bentB · strainsA · tentB · greenC · waveD · sceneC · graveD · divineE · thineE
- 3 ABABCDCDCC deadA · dwellB · treadA · wellB · vineC · hungD · rhineC · youngD · rhineC · thineC
- 4 ABABCDCDEE downA · raceB · renownA · traceB · brightC · bloomD · heightC · tombD · thineE · shrineE
- 5 ABABC-C-DD treadA · freeB · fledA · theeB · rearC · power · sereC · dower · thineD · shrineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh! how could fancy crown with thee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In ancient days, the God of Wine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And bid thee at the banquet be | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Companion of the Vine? | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Ivy! thy home is where each sound | 8 | /˘······ |
| Of revelry hath long been o’er; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Where song and beaker once went round, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But now are known no more; | 6 | ······ |
| Where long-fallen gods recline, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| There the place is thine. | 5 | ····· |
| The Roman, on his battle-plains, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where kings before his eagles bent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With thee, amidst exulting strains, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Shadow’d the victor’s tent. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Though, shining there in deathless green, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Triumphantly thy boughs might wave, | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| Better thou lovest the silent scene | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Around the victor’s grave-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Urn and sculpture half divine | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Yield their place to thine. | 5 | ····· |
| The cold halls of the regal dead, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where lone the Italian sunbeams dwell, | 9 | ···˘/˘/·· |
| Where hollow sounds the lightest tread-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ivy! they know thee well! | 6 | /˘···· |
| And far above the festal vine | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thou wavest where once proud banners hung, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Where mouldering turrets crest the Rhine-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The Rhine, still fresh and young! | 6 | ······ |
| Tower and rampart o’er the Rhine, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Ivy! all are thine! | 5 | /˘··· |
| High from the fields of air look down | 8 | ········ |
| Those eyries of a vanish’d race, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where harp, and battle, and renown, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Have pass’d, and left no trace. | 6 | ······ |
| But thou art there!--serenely bright, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Meeting the mountain-storms with bloom, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Thou that wilt climb the loftiest height, | 8 | ········ |
| Or crown the lowliest tomb! | 6 | ······ |
| Ivy! Ivy! all are thine, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Palace, hearth, and shrine. | 5 | /˘··· |
| ’Tis still the same: our pilgrim-tread | 8 | ····//˘· |
| O’er classic plains, through deserts free, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| On the mute path of ages fled, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Still meets decay and thee. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And still let man his fabrics rear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| August in beauty, stern in power-- | 9 | /˘·/˘··/˘ |
| Days pass--thou Ivy never sere, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And thou shalt have thy dower. | 6 | ······ |
| All are thine, or must be thine-- | 7 | ······· |
| Temple, pillar, shrine! | 5 | /˘/˘· |
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