To Wordsworth
Thine is a strain to read among the hills,The old and full of voices,--by the sourceOf some free stream, whose gladdening presence fillsThe solitude with sound; for in its courseEven such is thy deep song, that seems a partOf those high scenes, a fountain from their heart.
Or its calm spirit fitly may be takenTo the still breast in sunny garden bowers,Where vernal winds each tree’s low tones awaken,And bud and bell with changes mark the hours.There let thy thoughts be with me, while the daySinks with a golden and serene decay.
Or by some hearth where happy faces meet,When night hath hush’d the woods with all their birds,There, from some gentle voice, that lay were sweetAs antique music, link’d with household words;While in pleased murmurs woman’s lip might move,And the raised eye of childhood shine in love.
Or where the shadows of dark solemn yewsBrood silently o’er some lone burial-ground,Thy verse hath power that brightly might diffuseA breath, a kindling, as of spring, around;From its own glow of hope and courage high,And steadfast faith’s victorious constancy.
True bard and holy!--thou art e’en as oneWho, by some secret gift of soul or eye,In every spot beneath the smiling sun,Sees where the springs of living waters lie:Unseen awhile they sleep--till, touch’d by thee,Bright healthful waves flow forth, to each glad wanderer free.
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Wordsworth 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 Wordsworth, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/to-wordsworth.html, id L19438.
Form and metre
To Wordsworth is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. 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 ABABCC hillsA · sourceB · fillsA · courseB · partC · heartC
- 2 ABABCC takenA · bowersB · awakenA · hoursB · dayC · decayC
- 3 ABABCC meetA · birdsB · sweetA · wordsB · moveC · loveC
- 4 ABAB-- yewsA · groundB · diffuseA · aroundB · high · constancy
- 5 ABABCC oneA · eyeB · sunA · lieB · theeC · freeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thine is a strain to read among the hills, | 10 | ·········· |
| The old and full of voices,--by the source | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of some free stream, whose gladdening presence fills | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The solitude with sound; for in its course | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Even such is thy deep song, that seems a part | 10 | /········· |
| Of those high scenes, a fountain from their heart. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or its calm spirit fitly may be taken | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| To the still breast in sunny garden bowers, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Where vernal winds each tree’s low tones awaken, | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| And bud and bell with changes mark the hours. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| There let thy thoughts be with me, while the day | 10 | ·········· |
| Sinks with a golden and serene decay. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Or by some hearth where happy faces meet, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| When night hath hush’d the woods with all their birds, | 10 | ·········· |
| There, from some gentle voice, that lay were sweet | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As antique music, link’d with household words; | 10 | ·˘//˘··/·· |
| While in pleased murmurs woman’s lip might move, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And the raised eye of childhood shine in love. | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Or where the shadows of dark solemn yews | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Brood silently o’er some lone burial-ground, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘· |
| Thy verse hath power that brightly might diffuse | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| A breath, a kindling, as of spring, around; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| From its own glow of hope and courage high, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And steadfast faith’s victorious constancy. | 11 | ·/··˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| True bard and holy!--thou art e’en as one | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who, by some secret gift of soul or eye, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In every spot beneath the smiling sun, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Sees where the springs of living waters lie: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Unseen awhile they sleep--till, touch’d by thee, | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Bright healthful waves flow forth, to each glad wanderer free. | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
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.