The Wakening

Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) · 1808–1835

iambic pentameter · AABB · 32 lines · from Poems

How many thousands are wakening now!Some to the songs from the forest bough,To the rustling of leaves at the lattice pane,To the chiming fall of the early rain.

And some, far out on the deep mid-sea,To the dash of the waves in their foaming glee,As they break into spray on the ship’s tall side,That holds through the tumult her path of pride.

And some--oh, well may their hearts rejoice!--To the gentle sound of a mother’s voice:Long shall they yearn for that kindly tone,When from the board and the hearth ’tis gone.

And some, in the camp, to the bugle’s breath,And the tramp of the steed on the echoing heath,And the sudden roar of the hostile gun,Which tells that a field must ere night be won.

And some, in the gloomy convict cell,To the dull deep note of the warning bell,As it heavily calls them forth to die,When the bright sun mounts in the laughing sky.

And some to the peal of the hunter’s horn,And some to the din from the city borne,And some to the rolling of torrent floods,Far midst old mountains and solemn woods.

So are we roused on this checker’d earth:Each unto light hath a daily birth;Though fearful or joyous, though sad or sweet,Are the voices which first our upspringing meet.

But one must the sound be, and one the call,Which from the dust shall awaken us all:One!--but to sever’d and distant dooms,How shall the sleepers arise from the tombs?

Words in this poem

wakening n.: The act of one who wakens; esp., the act of ceasing to sleep; an awakening.
pane n.: The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
glee n.: Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
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,]
yearn v. t.: To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
steed n.: A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
peal v. i.: To appeal. Spencer.

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

About this text

The Wakening 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 Wakening, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-wakening.html, id L19394.

Form and metre

The Wakening is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%).

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 AABB now^A · bough^A · pane^B · rain^B
2 AABB sea^A · glee^A · side^B · pride^B
3 AA-- rejoice^A · voice^A · tone · gone
4 --AA breath · heath · gun^A · won^A
5 AABB cell^A · bell^A · die^B · sky^B
6 AA-- horn^A · borne^A · floods · woods
7 AABB earth^A · birth^A · sweet^B · meet^B
8 AABB call^A · all^A · dooms^B · tombs^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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
How many thousands are wakening now!	10	·/˘/˘·/˘˘·
Some to the songs from the forest bough,	9	······/˘·
To the rustling of leaves at the lattice pane,	11	··/˘····/˘·
To the chiming fall of the early rain.	10	··/˘···/˘·
And some, far out on the deep mid-sea,	9	·········
To the dash of the waves in their foaming glee,	11	········/˘·
As they break into spray on the ship’s tall side,	11	···········
That holds through the tumult her path of pride.	10	····/˘····
And some--oh, well may their hearts rejoice!--	9	·······˘/
To the gentle sound of a mother’s voice:	10	··/˘···/˘·
Long shall they yearn for that kindly tone,	9	······/˘·
When from the board and the hearth ’tis gone.	9	·········
And some, in the camp, to the bugle’s breath,	10	·······/˘·
And the tramp of the steed on the echoing heath,	11	········/˘·
And the sudden roar of the hostile gun,	10	··/˘···˘/·
Which tells that a field must ere night be won.	10	··········
And some, in the gloomy convict cell,	9	····/˘/˘·
To the dull deep note of the warning bell,	10	·······/˘·
As it heavily calls them forth to die,	10	··/˘˘·····
When the bright sun mounts in the laughing sky.	10	·······/˘·
And some to the peal of the hunter’s horn,	10	·······/˘·
And some to the din from the city borne,	10	·······/˘·
And some to the rolling of torrent floods,	10	····/˘·/˘·
Far midst old mountains and solemn woods.	9	···/˘·/˘·
So are we roused on this checker’d earth:	10	····˘··/˘·
Each unto light hath a daily birth;	9	······/˘·
Though fearful or joyous, though sad or sweet,	10	·/˘·/˘····
Are the voices which first our upspringing meet.	11	··/˘··/····
But one must the sound be, and one the call,	10	··········
Which from the dust shall awaken us all:	10	·····˘/˘··
One!--but to sever’d and distant dooms,	9	···/˘·/˘·
How shall the sleepers arise from the tombs?	10	···/˘˘/···

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