The Rivers

Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) · 1808–1835

common measure · ABAB · 36 lines · from Poems

Go! trace th’ unnumber’d streams, o’er earthThat wind their devious course,That draw from Alpine heights their birth,Deep vale, or cavern-source.

Some by majestic cities glide,Proud scenes of man’s renown;Some lead their solitary tideWhere pathless forests frown.

Some calmly roll o’er golden sands,Where Afric’s deserts lie;Or spread, to clothe rejoicing landsWith rich fertility.

These bear the bark, whose stately sailExulting seems to swell;While these, scarce rippled by a gale,Sleep in the lonely dell.

Yet on, alike, though swift or slowTheir various waves may sweep,Through cities or through shades, they flowTo the same boundless deep.

Oh! thus, whate’er our path of life,Through sunshine or through gloom,Through scenes of quiet or of strife,Its end is still the tomb.

The chief whose mighty deeds we hail,The monarch throned on high,The peasant in his native vale--All journey on to die!

But if Thy guardian care, my God!The pilgrim’s course attend,I will not fear the dark abodeTo which my footsteps bend.

For thence thine all-redeeming Son,Who died the world to save,In light, in triumph, rose, and wonThe victory from the grave!

Words in this poem

devious a.: Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way. [L. devius; de + via way. See Viaduct.]
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.]
pathless a.: Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
exulting a.: Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
dell n.: A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
sunshine n.: The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
abode n.: Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Rivers 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 Rivers, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-rivers.html, id L19611.

Form and metre

The Rivers is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).

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 ABAB earth^A · course^B · birth^A · source^B
2 ABAB glide^A · renown^B · tide^A · frown^B
3 A-A- sands^A · lie · lands^A · fertility
4 ABAB sail^A · swell^B · gale^A · dell^B
5 ABAB slow^A · sweep^B · flow^A · deep^B
6 ABAB life^A · gloom^B · strife^A · tomb^B
7 ABAB hail^A · high^B · vale^A · die^B
8 -A-A god · attend^A · abode · bend^A
9 ABAB son^A · save^B · won^A · grave^B

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
Go! trace th’ unnumber’d streams, o’er earth	8	········
That wind their devious course,	7	···/˘˘·
That draw from Alpine heights their birth,	8	···/····
Deep vale, or cavern-source.	6	···/˘·
Some by majestic cities glide,	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Proud scenes of man’s renown;	6	····˘/
Some lead their solitary tide	8	···/˘·˘·
Where pathless forests frown.	6	·/˘/˘·
Some calmly roll o’er golden sands,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Where Afric’s deserts lie;	6	···/˘·
Or spread, to clothe rejoicing lands	8	····˘/˘·
With rich fertility.	6	··˘/˘˘
These bear the bark, whose stately sail	8	·····/˘·
Exulting seems to swell;	6	˘/˘···
While these, scarce rippled by a gale,	8	···/˘···
Sleep in the lonely dell.	6	···/˘·
Yet on, alike, though swift or slow	8	··˘/····
Their various waves may sweep,	7	·/˘˘···
Through cities or through shades, they flow	8	·/˘·····
To the same boundless deep.	6	···/˘·
Oh! thus, whate’er our path of life,	10	··˘˘//˘···
Through sunshine or through gloom,	6	·/····
Through scenes of quiet or of strife,	8	···/˘···
Its end is still the tomb.	6	······
The chief whose mighty deeds we hail,	8	···/˘···
The monarch throned on high,	6	·/····
The peasant in his native vale--	8	·/˘··/˘·
All journey on to die!	6	·/˘···
But if Thy guardian care, my God!	9	···/˘˘···
The pilgrim’s course attend,	6	·/˘·˘/
I will not fear the dark abode	8	······˘/
To which my footsteps bend.	6	···/··
For thence thine all-redeeming Son,	8	····˘/˘·
Who died the world to save,	6	······
In light, in triumph, rose, and won	8	···/˘···
The victory from the grave!	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.

More by Felicia Hemans

Poems