The Last Blossom
THOUGH young no more, we still would dreamOf beauty's dear deluding wiles;The leagues of life to graybeards seemShorter than boyhood's lingering miles.
Who knows a woman's wild caprice?'It played with Goethe's silvered hair,And many a Holy Father's "niece"Has softly smoothed the papal chair.
When sixty bids us sigh in vainTo melt the heart of sweet sixteen,We think upon those ladies twainWho loved so well the tough old Dean.
We see the Patriarch's wintry face,The maid of Egypt's dusky glow,And dream that Youth and Age embrace,As April violets fill with snow.
Tranced in her lord's Olympian smileHis lotus-loving Memphian lies,--The musky daughter of the Nile,With plaited hair and almond eyes.
Might we but share one wild caressEre life's autumnal blossoms fall,And Earth's brown, clinging lips impressThe long cold kiss that waits us all!
My bosom heaves, remembering yetThe morning of that blissful day,When Rose, the flower of spring, I met,And gave my raptured soul away.
Flung from her eyes of purest blue,A lasso, with its leaping chain,Light as a loop of larkspurs, flewO'er sense and spirit, heart and brain.
Thou com'st to cheer my waning age,Sweet vision, waited for so long!Dove that would seek the poet's cageLured by the magic breath of song!
She blushes! Ah, reluctant maid,Love's drapeau rouge the truth has told!O' er girlhood's yielding barricadeFloats the great Leveller's crimson fold!
Come to my arms!--love heeds not years;No frost the bud of passion knows.Ha! what is this my frenzy hears?A voice behind me uttered,--Rose!
Sweet was her smile,--but not for me;Alas! when woman looks too kind,Just turn your foolish head and see,--Some youth is walking close behind!
Words in this poem
- niece n.
- A relative, in general; especially, a descendant, whether male or female; a granddaughter or a grandson. B. Jonson. Wyclif. [OE. nece, F. nièce, LL. neptia, for L. neptis a granddaughter, niece, akin to nepos. See Nephew.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- memphian a.
- Of or pertaining to the ancient city of Memphis in Egypt; hence, Egyptian; as, Memphian darkness.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Last Blossom is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes — Volume 06 Poems from the Breakfast Table Series, Project Gutenberg ebook #7393; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Last Blossom, in Poems from the Breakfast-Table Series (1858), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7393, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-breakfast-table-poems/the-last-blossom.html, id L23565.
Form and metre
The Last Blossom is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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.
- 1 ABAB dreamA · wilesB · seemA · milesB
- 2 ABAB capriceA · hairB · nieceA · chairB
- 3 ABAB vainA · sixteenB · twainA · deanB
- 4 ABAB faceA · glowB · embraceA · snowB
- 5 ABAB smileA · liesB · nileA · eyesB
- 6 ABAB caressA · fallB · impressA · allB
- 7 ABAB yetA · dayB · metA · awayB
- 8 ABAB blueA · chainB · flewA · brainB
- 9 ABAB ageA · longB · cageA · songB
- 10 ABAB maidA · toldB · barricadeA · foldB
- 11 ABAB yearsA · knowsB · hearsA · roseB
- 12 ABAB meA · kindB · seeA · behindB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THOUGH young no more, we still would dream | 8 | ········ |
| Of beauty's dear deluding wiles; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The leagues of life to graybeards seem | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shorter than boyhood's lingering miles. | 8 | /˘·/·/˘· |
| Who knows a woman's wild caprice? | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| 'It played with Goethe's silvered hair, | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| And many a Holy Father's "niece" | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Has softly smoothed the papal chair. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When sixty bids us sigh in vain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To melt the heart of sweet sixteen, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| We think upon those ladies twain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who loved so well the tough old Dean. | 8 | ········ |
| We see the Patriarch's wintry face, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| The maid of Egypt's dusky glow, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And dream that Youth and Age embrace, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As April violets fill with snow. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Tranced in her lord's Olympian smile | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| His lotus-loving Memphian lies,-- | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘· |
| The musky daughter of the Nile, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With plaited hair and almond eyes. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Might we but share one wild caress | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ere life's autumnal blossoms fall, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And Earth's brown, clinging lips impress | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The long cold kiss that waits us all! | 8 | ········ |
| My bosom heaves, remembering yet | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The morning of that blissful day, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When Rose, the flower of spring, I met, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And gave my raptured soul away. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Flung from her eyes of purest blue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A lasso, with its leaping chain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Light as a loop of larkspurs, flew | 8 | ·····/·· |
| O'er sense and spirit, heart and brain. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou com'st to cheer my waning age, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sweet vision, waited for so long! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Dove that would seek the poet's cage | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lured by the magic breath of song! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She blushes! Ah, reluctant maid, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Love's drapeau rouge the truth has told! | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| O' er girlhood's yielding barricade | 9 | ··/·/˘/˘· |
| Floats the great Leveller's crimson fold! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Come to my arms!--love heeds not years; | 8 | ········ |
| No frost the bud of passion knows. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ha! what is this my frenzy hears? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A voice behind me uttered,--Rose! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sweet was her smile,--but not for me; | 8 | ········ |
| Alas! when woman looks too kind, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Just turn your foolish head and see,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some youth is walking close behind! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.