The Penitent Anointing Christ’s Feet
There was a mournfulness in angel eyes,That saw thee, woman! bright in this world’s train,Moving to pleasure’s airy melodies,Thyself the idol of the enchanted strain.But from thy beauty’s garland, brief and vain,When one by one the rose-leaves had been torn;When thy heart’s core had quiver’d to the painThrough every life-nerve sent by arrowy scorn;When thou didst kneel to pour sweet odours forthOn the Redeemer’s feet, with many a sigh,And showering tear-drop, of yet richer worthThan all those costly balms of Araby;Then was there joy, a song of joy in heaven,For thee, the child won back, the penitent forgiven!
Words in this poem
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- arrowy a.
- Consisting of arrows.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- redeemer n.
- One who redeems.
- araby n.
- The country of Arabia.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Penitent Anointing Christ’s Feet 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 Penitent Anointing Christ’s Feet, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-penitent-anointing-christ-s-feet.html, id L19748.
Form and metre
The Penitent Anointing Christ’s Feet is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 ABABBCBC------ eyesA · trainB · melodiesA · strainB · vainB · tornC · painB · scornC · forth · sigh · worth · araby · heaven · forgiven
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There was a mournfulness in angel eyes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That saw thee, woman! bright in this world’s train, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Moving to pleasure’s airy melodies, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Thyself the idol of the enchanted strain. | 11 | ˘/·/˘··˘/˘· |
| But from thy beauty’s garland, brief and vain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| When one by one the rose-leaves had been torn; | 10 | ·········· |
| When thy heart’s core had quiver’d to the pain | 10 | ·········· |
| Through every life-nerve sent by arrowy scorn; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| When thou didst kneel to pour sweet odours forth | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| On the Redeemer’s feet, with many a sigh, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| And showering tear-drop, of yet richer worth | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Than all those costly balms of Araby; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Then was there joy, a song of joy in heaven, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| For thee, the child won back, the penitent forgiven! | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
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.