To a Departed Spirit
From the bright stars, or from the viewless air,Or from some world unreach’d by human thought,Spirit, sweet spirit! if thy home be there,And if thy visions with the past be fraught,Answer me, answer me!
Have we not communed here of life and death?Have we not said that love, such love as ours,Was not to perish as a rose’s breath,To melt away, like song from festal bowers?Answer, oh! answer me!
Thine eye’s last light was mine--the soul that shoneIntensely, mournfully, through gathering haze--Didst thou bear with thee to the shore unknown,Naught of what lived in that long, earnest gaze?Hear, hear and answer me!
Thy voice--its low, soft, fervent, farewell toneThrill’d through the tempest of the parting strife,Like a faint breeze: oh! from that music flown,Send back one sound, if love’s be quenchless life!But once, oh! answer me!
In the still noontide, in the sunset’s hush,In the dead hour of night, when thought grows deep,When the heart’s phantoms from the darkness rush,Fearfully beautiful, to strive with sleep--Spirit! then answer me!
By the remembrance of our blended prayer;By all our tears, whose mingling made them sweet;By our last hope, the victor o’er despair;--Speak! if our souls in deathless yearnings meet;Answer me, answer me!
The grave is silent: and the far-off sky,And the deep midnight--silent all, and lone!Oh! if thy buried love make no reply,What voice has earth? Hear, pity, speak, mine own!Answer me, answer me!
Words in this poem
- viewless a.
- Not perceivable by the eye; invisible; unseen.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- festal a.
- Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
- intensely adv.
- Intently. J. Spencer.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- quenchless a.
- Incapable of being quenched; inextinguishable; as, quenchless fire or fury.
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
- fearfully adv.
- In a fearful manner.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- yearnings n.
- The maws, or stomachs, of young calves, used a rennet for curdling milk. [Cf. AS. geirnan, geyrnan, to rum. See 4th Earn.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Departed Spirit 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, To a Departed Spirit, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/to-a-departed-spirit.html, id L19473.
Form and metre
To a Departed Spirit is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABAB- airA · thoughtB · thereA · fraughtB · me
- 2 ABAB- deathA · oursB · breathA · bowersB · me
- 3 ABAB- shoneA · hazeB · unknownA · gazeB · me
- 4 ABAB- toneA · strifeB · flownA · lifeB · me
- 5 ABAB- hushA · deepB · rushA · sleepB · me
- 6 ABAB- prayerA · sweetB · despairA · meetB · me
- 7 ABABA skyA · loneB · replyA · ownB · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From the bright stars, or from the viewless air, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Or from some world unreach’d by human thought, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Spirit, sweet spirit! if thy home be there, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And if thy visions with the past be fraught, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Answer me, answer me! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Have we not communed here of life and death? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Have we not said that love, such love as ours, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Was not to perish as a rose’s breath, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To melt away, like song from festal bowers? | 11 | ··˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Answer, oh! answer me! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Thine eye’s last light was mine--the soul that shone | 10 | ·········· |
| Intensely, mournfully, through gathering haze-- | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Didst thou bear with thee to the shore unknown, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Naught of what lived in that long, earnest gaze? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hear, hear and answer me! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy voice--its low, soft, fervent, farewell tone | 10 | ·····/˘·/· |
| Thrill’d through the tempest of the parting strife, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Like a faint breeze: oh! from that music flown, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Send back one sound, if love’s be quenchless life! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But once, oh! answer me! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In the still noontide, in the sunset’s hush, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| In the dead hour of night, when thought grows deep, | 10 | ···/······ |
| When the heart’s phantoms from the darkness rush, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Fearfully beautiful, to strive with sleep-- | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘···· |
| Spirit! then answer me! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| By the remembrance of our blended prayer; | 10 | ··˘/˘·//˘· |
| By all our tears, whose mingling made them sweet; | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| By our last hope, the victor o’er despair;-- | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| Speak! if our souls in deathless yearnings meet; | 10 | ··/··/˘/˘· |
| Answer me, answer me! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| The grave is silent: and the far-off sky, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And the deep midnight--silent all, and lone! | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Oh! if thy buried love make no reply, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| What voice has earth? Hear, pity, speak, mine own! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Answer me, answer me! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
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.