The Rod of Aaron: Numbers, XVII. VIII
Was it the sigh of the southern galeThat flush’d the almond bough?Brightest and first the young spring to hail,Still its red blossoms glow.
Was it the sunshine that woke its flowersWith a kindling look of love?Oh! far and deep, and through hidden bowers,That smile of heaven can rove!
No! from the breeze and the living lightShut was the sapless rod;But it felt in the stillness a secret might,And thrill’d to the breath of God.
E’en so may that breath, like the vernal air,O’er our glad spirits move;And all such things as are good and fairBe the blossoms, its track that prove!
Words in this poem
- 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.
- sapless a.
- Destitute of sap; not juicy.
- 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 Rod of Aaron: Numbers, XVII. VIII 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 Rod of Aaron: Numbers, XVII. VIII, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-rod-of-aaron-numbers-xvii-viii.html, id L19556.
Form and metre
The Rod of Aaron: Numbers, XVII. VIII is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic 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 A-A- galeA · bough · hailA · glow
- 2 A-A- flowersA · love · bowersA · rove
- 3 ABAB lightA · rodB · mightA · godB
- 4 ABAB airA · moveB · fairA · proveB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Was it the sigh of the southern gale | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That flush’d the almond bough? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Brightest and first the young spring to hail, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Still its red blossoms glow. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Was it the sunshine that woke its flowers | 10 | ···/····/˘ |
| With a kindling look of love? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Oh! far and deep, and through hidden bowers, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| That smile of heaven can rove! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| No! from the breeze and the living light | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Shut was the sapless rod; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But it felt in the stillness a secret might, | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| And thrill’d to the breath of God. | 7 | ······· |
| E’en so may that breath, like the vernal air, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O’er our glad spirits move; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And all such things as are good and fair | 9 | ········· |
| Be the blossoms, its track that prove! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
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.