The Lost Pleiad
And is there glory from the heavens departed?O void unmark’d!--thy sisters of the skyStill hold their place on high,Though from its rank thine orb so long hath started,Thou, that no more art seen of mortal eye!
Hath the night lost a gem, the regal night?She wears her crown of old magnificence,Though thou art exiled thence--No desert seems to part those urns of light,Midst the far depths of purple gloom intense.
They rise in joy, the starry myriads burning--The shepherd greets them on his mountains free;And from the silvery seaTo them the sailor’s wakeful eye is turning--Unchanged they rise, they have not mourn’d for thee.
Couldst thou be shaken from thy radiant place,Even as a dew-drop from the myrtle spray,Swept by the wind away?Wert thou not peopled by some glorious race,And was there power to smite them with decay?
Why, who shall talk of thrones, of sceptres riven?Bow’d be our hearts to think on what we are,When from its height afarA world sinks thus--and yon majestic heavenShines not the less for that one vanish’d star!
Words in this poem
- magnificence n.
- The act of doing what magnificent; the state or quality of being magnificent. Acts xix. 27. [F. magnificence, L. magnificentia. See Magnific.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- peopled a.
- Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
- 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.]
- 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,]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lost Pleiad 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 Lost Pleiad, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-lost-pleiad.html, id L19389.
Form and metre
The Lost Pleiad is 25 lines in 5 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABBAB departedA · skyB · highB · startedA · eyeB
- 2 ABBAB nightA · magnificenceB · thenceB · lightA · intenseB
- 3 ABBAB burningA · freeB · seaB · turningA · theeB
- 4 ABBAB placeA · sprayB · awayB · raceA · decayB
- 5 -AA-A riven · areA · afarA · heaven · starA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And is there glory from the heavens departed? | 12 | ···/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| O void unmark’d!--thy sisters of the sky | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Still hold their place on high, | 6 | ······ |
| Though from its rank thine orb so long hath started, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Thou, that no more art seen of mortal eye! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hath the night lost a gem, the regal night? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| She wears her crown of old magnificence, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Though thou art exiled thence-- | 6 | ···/·· |
| No desert seems to part those urns of light, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Midst the far depths of purple gloom intense. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| They rise in joy, the starry myriads burning-- | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| The shepherd greets them on his mountains free; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And from the silvery sea | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| To them the sailor’s wakeful eye is turning-- | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Unchanged they rise, they have not mourn’d for thee. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Couldst thou be shaken from thy radiant place, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Even as a dew-drop from the myrtle spray, | 10 | /······/˘· |
| Swept by the wind away? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Wert thou not peopled by some glorious race, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And was there power to smite them with decay? | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Why, who shall talk of thrones, of sceptres riven? | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Bow’d be our hearts to think on what we are, | 10 | ··/······· |
| When from its height afar | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A world sinks thus--and yon majestic heaven | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Shines not the less for that one vanish’d star! | 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.