To the Memory of a Sister-In-Law
We miss thy voice while early flowers are blowing,And the first flush of blossom clothes each bough,And the spring sunshine round our home is glowingSoft as thy smile: thou shouldst be with us now.
With us? We wrong thee by the earthly thought:Could our fond gaze but follow where thou art,Well might the glories of this world seem naughtTo the one promise given the pure in heart.
Yet wert thou blest e’en here--oh! ever blestIn thine own sunny thoughts and tranquil faith!The silent joy that still o’erflow’d thy breastNeeded but guarding from all change, by death.
So is it seal’d to peace! On thy clear browNever was care one fleeting shade to cast;And thy calm days in brightness were to flowA holy stream, untroubled to the last.
Farewell! thy life hath left surviving loveA wealth of records, and sweet “feelings given,”From sorrow’s heart the faintness to removeBy whispers breathing “less of earth than heaven.”
Thus rests thy spirit still on those with whomThy step the path of joyous duty trode,Bidding them make an altar of thy tomb,Where chasten’d thought may offer praise to God.
“Some feelings are to mortals givenWith less of earth in them than heaven.”
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.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- surviving a.
- Remaining alive; yet living or existing; as, surviving friends; surviving customs.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- faintness n.
- The state of being faint; loss of strength, or of consciousness, and self-control.
- trode n.
- Tread; footing. [AS. trod, fr. tredan to tread. See Tread.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Memory of a Sister-In-Law 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 the Memory of a Sister-In-Law, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/to-the-memory-of-a-sister-in-law.html, id L19534.
Form and metre
To the Memory of a Sister-In-Law is 26 lines in 7 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 2 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 blowingA · boughB · glowingA · nowB
- 2 ABAB thoughtA · artB · naughtA · heartB
- 3 A-A- blestA · faith · breastA · death
- 4 -A-A brow · castA · flow · lastA
- 5 A-A- loveA · given · removeA · heaven
- 6 A-A- whomA · trode · tombA · god
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We miss thy voice while early flowers are blowing, | 11 | ·····/˘/·/˘ |
| And the first flush of blossom clothes each bough, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And the spring sunshine round our home is glowing | 11 | ···/··/··/˘ |
| Soft as thy smile: thou shouldst be with us now. | 10 | ·········· |
| With us? We wrong thee by the earthly thought: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Could our fond gaze but follow where thou art, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| Well might the glories of this world seem naught | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To the one promise given the pure in heart. | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Yet wert thou blest e’en here--oh! ever blest | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In thine own sunny thoughts and tranquil faith! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The silent joy that still o’erflow’d thy breast | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Needed but guarding from all change, by death. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| So is it seal’d to peace! On thy clear brow | 10 | ·········· |
| Never was care one fleeting shade to cast; | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And thy calm days in brightness were to flow | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A holy stream, untroubled to the last. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Farewell! thy life hath left surviving love | 10 | ·/····˘/˘· |
| A wealth of records, and sweet “feelings given,” | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| From sorrow’s heart the faintness to remove | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| By whispers breathing “less of earth than heaven.” | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Thus rests thy spirit still on those with whom | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thy step the path of joyous duty trode, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Bidding them make an altar of thy tomb, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Where chasten’d thought may offer praise to God. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| “Some feelings are to mortals given | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| With less of earth in them than heaven.” | 9 | ·······/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
Notes from The Poems of Felicia Hemans (Project Gutenberg #66785), largely Mrs Hemans's own.
- Stanza 5, line 4 Alluding to the lines she herself quoted but an hour before her death:-- “Some feelings are to mortals given With less of earth in them than heaven.”
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