On Her Birthday
Dear Fanny! nine long years ago,While yet the morning sun was low,And rosy with the Eastern glowThe landscape smiled--Whilst lowed the newly-waken'd herds--Sweet as the early song of birds,I heard those first, delightful words,"Thou hast a Child!"
Along with that uprising dewTears glisten'd in my eyes, though few,To hail a dawning quite as newTo me, as Time:It was not sorrow--not annoy--But like a happy maid, though coy,With grief-like welcome even JoyForestalls its prime.
So mayst thou live, dear! many years,In all the bliss that life endears,Not without smiles, nor yet from tearsToo strictly kept:When first thy infant littlenessI folded in my fond caress,The greatest proof of happinessWas this--I wept.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- uprising n.
- Act of rising; also, a steep place; an ascent.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Her Birthday is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, On Her Birthday, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/on-her-birthday.html, id L20099.
Form and metre
On Her Birthday is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABCCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AAABCCCB agoA · lowA · glowA · smiledB · herdsC · birdsC · wordsC · childB
- 2 AAABCCCB dewA · fewA · newA · timeB · annoyC · coyC · joyC · primeB
- 3 AAABCCCB yearsA · endearsA · tearsA · keptB · littlenessC · caressC · happinessC · weptB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dear Fanny! nine long years ago, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| While yet the morning sun was low, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And rosy with the Eastern glow | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The landscape smiled-- | 4 | ·/·· |
| Whilst lowed the newly-waken'd herds-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sweet as the early song of birds, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I heard those first, delightful words, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| "Thou hast a Child!" | 4 | ···· |
| Along with that uprising dew | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| Tears glisten'd in my eyes, though few, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To hail a dawning quite as new | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To me, as Time: | 4 | ···· |
| It was not sorrow--not annoy-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But like a happy maid, though coy, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With grief-like welcome even Joy | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Forestalls its prime. | 4 | ˘/·· |
| So mayst thou live, dear! many years, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In all the bliss that life endears, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Not without smiles, nor yet from tears | 8 | ········ |
| Too strictly kept: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When first thy infant littleness | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| I folded in my fond caress, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The greatest proof of happiness | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Was this--I wept. | 4 | ···· |
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.