To an Orphan
Thou hast been rear’d too tenderly,Beloved too well and long,Watch’d by too many a gentle eye:Now look on life--be strong!
Too quiet seem’d thy joys for change,Too holy and too deep;Bright clouds, through summer skies that rangeSeem ofttimes thus to sleep,--
To sleep in silvery stillness bound,As things that ne’er may melt;Yet gaze again--no trace is foundTo show thee where they dwelt.
This world hath no more love to giveLike that which thou hast known;Yet the heart breaks not--we surviveOur treasures--and bear on.
But oh! too beautiful and blestThy home of youth hath been!Where shall thy wing, poor bird! find rest,Shut out from that sweet scene?
Kind voices from departed yearsMust haunt thee many a day;Looks that will smite the source of tearsAcross thy soul must play.
Friends--now the alter’d or the dead,And music that is gone,A gladness o’er thy dreams will shed,And thou shalt wake--alone.
Alone! it is in that deep wordThat all thy sorrow lies;How is the heart to courage stirr’dBy smiles from kindred eyes!
And are these lost?--and have I saidTo aught like thee--be strong?--So bid the willow lift its head,And brave the tempest’s wrong!
Thou reed! o’er which the storm hath pass’d--Thou shaken with the wind!On one, one friend thy weakness cast--There is but One to bind!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- ofttimes adv.
- Frequently; often. [Oft + time. Cf. -wards.]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- 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,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To an Orphan 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 an Orphan, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/to-an-orphan.html, id L19535.
Form and metre
To an Orphan is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 -A-A tenderly · longA · eye · strongA
- 2 ABAB changeA · deepB · rangeA · sleepB
- 3 ABAB boundA · meltB · foundA · dweltB
- 5 A-A- blestA · been · restA · scene
- 6 ABAB yearsA · dayB · tearsA · playB
- 7 A-A- deadA · gone · shedA · alone
- 8 ABAB wordA · liesB · stirr'dA · eyesB
- 9 ABAB saidA · strongB · headA · wrongB
- 10 ABAB pass'dA · windB · castA · bindB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou hast been rear’d too tenderly, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Beloved too well and long, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Watch’d by too many a gentle eye: | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Now look on life--be strong! | 6 | ······ |
| Too quiet seem’d thy joys for change, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Too holy and too deep; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Bright clouds, through summer skies that range | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Seem ofttimes thus to sleep,-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To sleep in silvery stillness bound, | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| As things that ne’er may melt; | 6 | ······ |
| Yet gaze again--no trace is found | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To show thee where they dwelt. | 6 | ······ |
| This world hath no more love to give | 8 | ········ |
| Like that which thou hast known; | 6 | ······ |
| Yet the heart breaks not--we survive | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Our treasures--and bear on. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| But oh! too beautiful and blest | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Thy home of youth hath been! | 6 | ······ |
| Where shall thy wing, poor bird! find rest, | 8 | ········ |
| Shut out from that sweet scene? | 6 | ······ |
| Kind voices from departed years | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Must haunt thee many a day; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Looks that will smite the source of tears | 8 | ········ |
| Across thy soul must play. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Friends--now the alter’d or the dead, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And music that is gone, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A gladness o’er thy dreams will shed, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And thou shalt wake--alone. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Alone! it is in that deep word | 8 | ˘/······ |
| That all thy sorrow lies; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How is the heart to courage stirr’d | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By smiles from kindred eyes! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And are these lost?--and have I said | 8 | ········ |
| To aught like thee--be strong? | 6 | ······ |
| --So bid the willow lift its head, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And brave the tempest’s wrong! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou reed! o’er which the storm hath pass’d-- | 8 | ········ |
| Thou shaken with the wind! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| On one, one friend thy weakness cast-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There is but One to bind! | 6 | ······ |
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