The Mirror in the Deserted Hall
O dim, forsaken mirror!How many a stately throngHath o’er thee gleam’d, in vanish’d hoursOf the wine-cup and the song!
The song hath left no echo;The bright wine hath been quaff’d;And hush’d is every silvery voiceThat lightly here hath laugh’d.
O mirror--lonely mirror!Thou of the silent hall!Thou hast been flush’d with beauty’s bloom--Is this, too, vanish’d all?
It is, with the scatter’d garlandsOf triumphs long ago,With the melodies of buried lyres,With the faded rainbow’s glow.
And for all the gorgeous pageants--For the glance of gem and plume,For lamp, and harp, and rosy wreath,And vase of rich perfume--
Now, dim, forsaken mirror!Thou givest but faintly backThe quiet stars, and the sailing moon,On her solitary track.
And thus with man’s proud spiritThou tellest me ’twill be,When the forms and hues of this world fadeFrom his memory, as from thee:
And his heart’s long-troubled watersAt last in stillness lie,Reflecting but the imagesOf the solemn world on high.
Words in this poem
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Mirror in the Deserted Hall 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 Mirror in the Deserted Hall, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-mirror-in-the-deserted-hall.html, id L19529.
Form and metre
The Mirror in the Deserted Hall is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 1 -A-A mirror · throngA · hours · songA
- 3 -A-A mirror · hallA · bloom · allA
- 4 -A-A garlands · agoA · lyres · glowA
- 5 -A-A pageants · plumeA · wreath · perfumeA
- 6 -A-A mirror · backA · moon · trackA
- 7 -A-A spirit · beA · fade · theeA
- 8 -A-A waters · lieA · images · highA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O dim, forsaken mirror! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| How many a stately throng | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Hath o’er thee gleam’d, in vanish’d hours | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Of the wine-cup and the song! | 7 | ······· |
| The song hath left no echo; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The bright wine hath been quaff’d; | 6 | ······ |
| And hush’d is every silvery voice | 10 | ···/˘˘/˘˘· |
| That lightly here hath laugh’d. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O mirror--lonely mirror! | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Thou of the silent hall! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou hast been flush’d with beauty’s bloom-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is this, too, vanish’d all? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It is, with the scatter’d garlands | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Of triumphs long ago, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| With the melodies of buried lyres, | 9 | ··/˘˘·/˘· |
| With the faded rainbow’s glow. | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| And for all the gorgeous pageants-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| For the glance of gem and plume, | 7 | ······· |
| For lamp, and harp, and rosy wreath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And vase of rich perfume-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Now, dim, forsaken mirror! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Thou givest but faintly back | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The quiet stars, and the sailing moon, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| On her solitary track. | 7 | ··/˘·˘· |
| And thus with man’s proud spirit | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Thou tellest me ’twill be, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When the forms and hues of this world fade | 9 | ········· |
| From his memory, as from thee: | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| And his heart’s long-troubled waters | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| At last in stillness lie, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Reflecting but the images | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Of the solemn world on high. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.