To a Picture of the Madonna
“Ave Maria! May our spirits dareLook up to thine, and to thy Son’s above?” Byron.
Fair vision! thou’rt from sunny skies,Born where the rose hath richest dyes;To thee a southern heart hath givenThat glow of love, that calm of heaven,And round thee cast th’ ideal gleam,The light that is but of a dream.
Far hence, where wandering music fillsThe haunted air of Roman hills,Or where Venetian waves of yoreHeard melodies, they hear no more,Some proud old minster’s gorgeous aisleHath known the sweetness of thy smile.
Or haply, from a lone, dim shrineMid forests of the Apennine,Whose breezy sounds of cave and dellPass like a floating anthem-swell,Thy soft eyes o’er the pilgrim’s wayShed blessings with their gentle ray.
Or gleaming through a chestnut wood,Perchance thine island-chapel stood,Where from the blue Sicilian seaThe sailor’s hymn hath risen to thee,And bless’d thy power to guide, to save,Madonna! watcher of the wave!
Oh! might a voice, a whisper low,Forth from those lips of beauty flow!Couldst thou but speak of all the tears,The conflicts, and the pangs of years,Which, at thy secret shrine reveal’d,Have gush’d from human hearts unseal’d!
Surely to thee hath woman come,As a tired wanderer back to home!Unveiling many a timid guestAnd treasured sorrow of her breast,A buried love--a wasting care--Oh! did those griefs win peace from prayer?
And did the poet’s fervid soulTo thee lay bare its inmost scroll?Those thoughts, which pour’d their quenchless fireAnd passion o’er th’ Italian lyre,Did they to still submission dieBeneath thy calm, religious eye?
And hath the crested helmet bow’dBefore thee, midst the incense-cloud?Hath the crown’d leader’s bosom loneTo thee its haughty griefs made known?Did thy glance break their frozen sleep,And win th’ unconquer’d one to weep?
Hush’d is the anthem, closed the vow,The votive garland wither’d now;Yet holy still to me thou art,Thou that hath soothed so many a heart!And still must blessed influence flowFrom the meek glory of thy brow.
Still speak to suffering woman’s love,Of rest for gentle hearts above;Of hope, that hath its treasure there,Of home, that knows no changeful air.Bright form! lit up with thoughts divine,Ave! such power be ever thine!
Words in this poem 20
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- apennine a.
- Of, pertaining to, or designating, the Apennines, a chain of mountains extending through Italy. [L. Apenninus, fr. Celtic pen, or ben, peak, mountain.]
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- anthem v. t.
- To celebrate with anthems.
- sicilian a.
- Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.
- madonna n.
- My lady; -- a term of address in Italian formerly used as the equivalent of Madame, but for which Signora is now substituted. [It. madonna my lady. See Dame, Donna, and cf. Madame, Monkey.]
- watcher n.
- One who watches; one who sits up or continues; a diligent observer; specifically, one who attends upon the sick during the night.
- unseal v. t.
- To break or remove the seal of; to open, as what is sealed; as, to unseal a letter. [1st pref. un- + seal.]
- fervid a.
- Very hot; burning; boiling. [L. fervidus, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- quenchless a.
- Incapable of being quenched; inextinguishable; as, quenchless fire or fury.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- votive a.
- Given by vow, or in fulfillment of a vow; consecrated by a vow; devoted; as, votive offerings; a votive tablet. [L. votivus, fr. votum a vow: cf. F. votif. See Vow.]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Picture of the Madonna 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 Picture of the Madonna, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/to-a-picture-of-the-madonna.html, id L19593.
Form and metre
To a Picture of the Madonna is 62 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 7 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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.
- 2 AA--BB skiesA · dyesA · given · heaven · gleamB · dreamB
- 3 AABBCC fillsA · hillsA · yoreB · moreB · aisleC · smileC
- 4 --AABB shrine · apennine · dellA · swellA · wayB · rayB
- 5 AABBCC woodA · stoodA · seaB · theeB · saveC · waveC
- 6 AABBCC lowA · flowA · tearsB · yearsB · reveal'dC · unseal'dC
- 7 AABBCC comeA · homeA · guestB · breastB · careC · prayerC
- 8 AABBCC soulA · scrollA · fireB · lyreB · dieC · eyeC
- 9 AABBCC bow'dA · cloudA · loneB · knownB · sleepC · weepC
- 10 AABB-A vowA · nowA · artB · heartB · flow · browA
- 11 AABBCC loveA · aboveA · thereB · airB · divineC · thineC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Ave Maria! May our spirits dare | 10 | /˘˘/˘·//˘· |
| Look up to thine, and to thy Son’s above?” Byron. | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Fair vision! thou’rt from sunny skies, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Born where the rose hath richest dyes; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To thee a southern heart hath given | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| That glow of love, that calm of heaven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And round thee cast th’ ideal gleam, | 7 | ····˘/· |
| The light that is but of a dream. | 8 | ········ |
| Far hence, where wandering music fills | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The haunted air of Roman hills, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or where Venetian waves of yore | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Heard melodies, they hear no more, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Some proud old minster’s gorgeous aisle | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Hath known the sweetness of thy smile. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or haply, from a lone, dim shrine | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Mid forests of the Apennine, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose breezy sounds of cave and dell | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Pass like a floating anthem-swell, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thy soft eyes o’er the pilgrim’s way | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shed blessings with their gentle ray. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or gleaming through a chestnut wood, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Perchance thine island-chapel stood, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Where from the blue Sicilian sea | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The sailor’s hymn hath risen to thee, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| And bless’d thy power to guide, to save, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Madonna! watcher of the wave! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Oh! might a voice, a whisper low, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Forth from those lips of beauty flow! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Couldst thou but speak of all the tears, | 8 | ········ |
| The conflicts, and the pangs of years, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Which, at thy secret shrine reveal’d, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Have gush’d from human hearts unseal’d! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Surely to thee hath woman come, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| As a tired wanderer back to home! | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Unveiling many a timid guest | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| And treasured sorrow of her breast, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A buried love--a wasting care-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Oh! did those griefs win peace from prayer? | 8 | ········ |
| And did the poet’s fervid soul | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To thee lay bare its inmost scroll? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Those thoughts, which pour’d their quenchless fire | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And passion o’er th’ Italian lyre, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Did they to still submission die | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Beneath thy calm, religious eye? | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And hath the crested helmet bow’d | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Before thee, midst the incense-cloud? | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Hath the crown’d leader’s bosom lone | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To thee its haughty griefs made known? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Did thy glance break their frozen sleep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And win th’ unconquer’d one to weep? | 8 | ········ |
| Hush’d is the anthem, closed the vow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The votive garland wither’d now; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Yet holy still to me thou art, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou that hath soothed so many a heart! | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And still must blessed influence flow | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| From the meek glory of thy brow. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still speak to suffering woman’s love, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of rest for gentle hearts above; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of hope, that hath its treasure there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of home, that knows no changeful air. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bright form! lit up with thoughts divine, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ave! such power be ever thine! | 8 | /˘˘·/·/· |
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