The Lament of Llywarch Hen
The bright hours return, and the blue sky is ringingWith song, and the hills are all mantled with bloom;But fairer than aught which the summer is bringing,The beauty and youth gone to people the tomb!Oh! why should I live to hear music resounding,Which cannot awake ye, my lovely, my brave?Why smile the waste flowers, my sad footsteps surrounding?--My sons! they but clothe the green turf of your grave!
Alone on the rocks of the stranger I linger,My spirit all wrapt in the past as a dream!Mine ear hath no joy in the voice of the singer,Mine eye sparkles not to the sunlight’s glad beam;Yet, yet I live on, though forsaken and weeping!--O grave! why refuse to the aged thy bed,When valour’s high heart on thy bosom is sleeping,When youth’s glorious flower is gone down to the dead!
Fair were ye, my sons! and all kingly your bearing,As on to the fields of your glory ye trode!Each prince of my race the bright golden chain wearing,Each eye glancing fire, shrouded now by the sod!I weep when the blast of the trumpet is sounding,Which rouses ye not, O my lovely! my brave!When warriors and chiefs to their proud steeds are bounding,I turn from heaven’s light, for it smiles on your grave!
“Four and twenty sons to me have beenWearing the golden chain, and leading princes.”Elegies of Llywarch Hen.
“Hardly has the snow covered the vale,When the warriors are hastening to the battle;I do not go, I am hinder’d by infirmity.”Elegies of Llywarch Hen.
Words in this poem
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- 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.]
- trode n.
- Tread; footing. [AS. trod, fr. tredan to tread. See Tread.]
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lament of Llywarch Hen 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 Lament of Llywarch Hen, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-lament-of-llywarch-hen.html, id L13521.
Form and metre
The Lament of Llywarch Hen is 31 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.0 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABABCDCD ringingA · bloomB · bringingA · tombB · resoundingC · braveD · surroundingC · graveD
- 2 ABABCDCD lingerA · dreamB · singerA · beamB · weepingC · bedD · sleepingC · deadD
- 3 A-A-BCBC bearingA · trode · wearingA · sod · soundingB · braveC · boundingB · graveC
- 5 AA-- valeA · battleA · infirmity · hen
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The bright hours return, and the blue sky is ringing | 12 | ··/˘/·····/˘ |
| With song, and the hills are all mantled with bloom; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| But fairer than aught which the summer is bringing, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| The beauty and youth gone to people the tomb! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Oh! why should I live to hear music resounding, | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
| Which cannot awake ye, my lovely, my brave? | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| Why smile the waste flowers, my sad footsteps surrounding? | 12 | ····/··/·˘/˘ |
| --My sons! they but clothe the green turf of your grave! | 11 | ··········· |
| Alone on the rocks of the stranger I linger, | 12 | ˘/·····/˘·/˘ |
| My spirit all wrapt in the past as a dream! | 10 | ·/········ |
| Mine ear hath no joy in the voice of the singer, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Mine eye sparkles not to the sunlight’s glad beam; | 11 | ··/˘···/··· |
| Yet, yet I live on, though forsaken and weeping! | 12 | ······˘/˘·/˘ |
| --O grave! why refuse to the aged thy bed, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| When valour’s high heart on thy bosom is sleeping, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| When youth’s glorious flower is gone down to the dead! | 11 | ··/˘/······ |
| Fair were ye, my sons! and all kingly your bearing, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| As on to the fields of your glory ye trode! | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Each prince of my race the bright golden chain wearing, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Each eye glancing fire, shrouded now by the sod! | 11 | ··/˘//˘···· |
| I weep when the blast of the trumpet is sounding, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| Which rouses ye not, O my lovely! my brave! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| When warriors and chiefs to their proud steeds are bounding, | 12 | ·/˘·······/˘ |
| I turn from heaven’s light, for it smiles on your grave! | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| “Four and twenty sons to me have been | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Wearing the golden chain, and leading princes.” | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Elegies of Llywarch Hen. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| “Hardly has the snow covered the vale, | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| When the warriors are hastening to the battle; | 11 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| I do not go, I am hinder’d by infirmity.” | 12 | ······/˘·˘/˘ |
| Elegies of Llywarch Hen. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
Notes from the edition 3
Notes from The Poems of Felicia Hemans (Project Gutenberg #66785), largely Mrs Hemans's own.
- Stanza 2, line 3 “What I loved when I was a youth is hateful to me now.”
- Stanza 3, line 4 “Four and twenty sons to me have been Wearing the golden chain, and leading princes.” Elegies of Llywarch Hen. The golden chain, as a badge of honour, worn by heroes, is frequently alluded to in the works of the ancient British bards.
- Stanza 3, line 8 “Hardly has the snow covered the vale, When the warriors are hastening to the battle; I do not go, I am hinder’d by infirmity.” Elegies of Llywarch Hen.
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