Wood Hymn
Broods there some spirit here?The summer leaves hang silent as a cloud;And o’er the pools, all still and darkly clear,The wild wood-hyacinth with awe seems bow’d;And something of a tender cloistral gloomDeepens the violet’s bloom.
The very light that streamsThrough the dim, dewy veil of foliage roundComes tremulous with emerald-tinted gleams--As if it knew the place were holy ground;And would not startle, with too bright a burst,Flowers, all divinely nursed.
Wakes there some spirit here?A swift wind, fraught with change, comes rushing by;And leaves and waters, in its wild career,Shed forth sweet voices--each a mystery!Surely some awful influence must pervadeThese depths of trembling shade!
Yes! lightly, softly move!There is a power, a presence in the woods;A viewless being that, with life and love,Informs the reverential solitudes:The rich air knows it, and the mossy sod--Thou--thou art here, my God!
And if with awe we treadThe minster-floor, beneath the storied pane,And, midst the mouldering banners of the dead,Shall the green, voiceful wild seem less thy fane,Where thou alone hast built?--where arch and roofAre of thy living woof?
The silence and the sound,In the lone places, breathe alike of thee;The temple-twilight of the gloom profound,The dew-cup of the frail anemone,The reed by every wandering whisper thrill’d--All, all with thee are fill’d!
Oh! purify mine eyes,More and yet more, by love and lowly thought,Thy presence, holiest One! to recogniseIn these majestic aisles which thou hast wroughtAnd, midst their sea-like murmurs, teach mine earEver thy voice to hear!
And sanctify my heartTo meet the awful sweetness of that toneWith no faint thrill or self-accusing start,But a deep joy the heavenly guest to own--Joy, such as dwelt in Eden’s glorious bowersEre sin had dimm’d the flowers.
Let me not know the changeO’er nature thrown by guilt!--the boding sky,The hollow leaf-sounds ominous and strange,The weight wherewith the dark tree-shadows lie!Father! oh! keep my footsteps pure and free,To walk the woods with thee!
Words in this poem 18
- cloistral a.
- Of, pertaining to, or confined in, a cloister; recluse.
- 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.]
- career n.
- A race course: the ground run over. [F. carrière race course, high road, street, fr. L. carrus wagon. See Car.]
- pervade v. t.
- To pass or flow through, as an aperture, pore, or interstice; to permeate. [L. pervadere, pervasum; per + vadere to go, to walk. See Per-, and Wade.]
- viewless a.
- Not perceivable by the eye; invisible; unseen.
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- 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,]
- voiceful a.
- Having a voice or vocal quality; having a loud voice or many voices; vocal; sounding.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- recognise v. t.
- To know again; to perceive the identity of, with a person or thing previously known; to recover or recall knowledge of. [From Recognizance; see Cognition, and cf. Reconnoiter.]
- sanctify v. t.
- To make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow. [F. sanctifier, L. sanctificare; sanctus holy + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See Saint, and -fy.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wood Hymn 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, Wood Hymn, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/wood-hymn.html, id L19717.
Form and metre
Wood Hymn is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 hereA · cloudB · clearA · bow'dB · gloomC · bloomC
- 2 ABABCC streamsA · roundB · gleamsA · groundB · burstC · nursedC
- 3 A-A-BB hereA · by · careerA · mystery · pervadeB · shadeB
- 4 A-A-BB moveA · woods · loveA · solitudes · sodB · godB
- 5 ABABCC treadA · paneB · deadA · faneB · roofC · woofC
- 6 A-A-BB soundA · thee · profoundA · anemone · thrill'dB · fill'dB
- 7 ABABCC eyesA · thoughtB · recogniseA · wroughtB · earC · hearC
- 8 ABABCC heartA · toneB · startA · ownB · bowersC · flowersC
- 9 ABABCC changeA · skyB · strangeA · lieB · freeC · theeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Broods there some spirit here? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The summer leaves hang silent as a cloud; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And o’er the pools, all still and darkly clear, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The wild wood-hyacinth with awe seems bow’d; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And something of a tender cloistral gloom | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Deepens the violet’s bloom. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| The very light that streams | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Through the dim, dewy veil of foliage round | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Comes tremulous with emerald-tinted gleams-- | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| As if it knew the place were holy ground; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And would not startle, with too bright a burst, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Flowers, all divinely nursed. | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Wakes there some spirit here? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A swift wind, fraught with change, comes rushing by; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And leaves and waters, in its wild career, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Shed forth sweet voices--each a mystery! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Surely some awful influence must pervade | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| These depths of trembling shade! | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Yes! lightly, softly move! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| There is a power, a presence in the woods; | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| A viewless being that, with life and love, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Informs the reverential solitudes: | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘/˘· |
| The rich air knows it, and the mossy sod-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thou--thou art here, my God! | 6 | ······ |
| And if with awe we tread | 6 | ······ |
| The minster-floor, beneath the storied pane, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And, midst the mouldering banners of the dead, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Shall the green, voiceful wild seem less thy fane, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where thou alone hast built?--where arch and roof | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Are of thy living woof? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The silence and the sound, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In the lone places, breathe alike of thee; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The temple-twilight of the gloom profound, | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| The dew-cup of the frail anemone, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The reed by every wandering whisper thrill’d-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| All, all with thee are fill’d! | 6 | ······ |
| Oh! purify mine eyes, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| More and yet more, by love and lowly thought, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thy presence, holiest One! to recognise | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| In these majestic aisles which thou hast wrought | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And, midst their sea-like murmurs, teach mine ear | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ever thy voice to hear! | 6 | /˘···· |
| And sanctify my heart | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| To meet the awful sweetness of that tone | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| With no faint thrill or self-accusing start, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| But a deep joy the heavenly guest to own-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Joy, such as dwelt in Eden’s glorious bowers | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Ere sin had dimm’d the flowers. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Let me not know the change | 6 | ······ |
| O’er nature thrown by guilt!--the boding sky, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The hollow leaf-sounds ominous and strange, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| The weight wherewith the dark tree-shadows lie! | 10 | ··˘/···/·· |
| Father! oh! keep my footsteps pure and free, | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| To walk the woods with thee! | 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.