Harmonies
Sweet music lingersFrom her harpstrings on her fingers,When they rest in mine:And her clear glancesHelp the music, whereto dances,Trembling with an hope divine,Every heart: and chiefly mine.
Could she discoverAll her heart to any lover,She who sways them all?Yet her hand trembles,Laid in mine: and scarce dissembles,That its music looks to fallInto mine, and Love end all.
The airs, that best belong,Upon the strings devoutly playing,Your heart devoutly praying:Now sound your passion, full and strong,Past all her fond gainsaying.
First, strangely sweet and low,Slowly her careless ears entrancing:Then set the music dancing,And wild notes flying to and fro;Like spirited sunbeams glancing.
The melodies will stirSpirits of love, that still attend her:That able are to bend her,By subtile arts transforming her;And all their wisdom fend her.
Last, loud and resolute,Ring out a triumph and a greeting!No call for sad entreating,For she will grant you all your suit,Her song your music meeting.
Words in this poem
- whereto adv.
- To which; -- used relatively.
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- devoutly adv.
- In a devout and reverent manner; with devout emotions; piously.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- spirited a.
- Animated or possessed by a spirit.
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- fend v. t.
- To keep off; to prevent from entering or hitting; to ward off; to shut out; -- often with off; as, to fend off blows. [Abbrev. fr. defend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Harmonies is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #66520; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lionel Johnson, Harmonies, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/harmonies.html, id L20708.
Form and metre
Harmonies is 34 lines in 6 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABCCBB, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 AABCCBB lingersA · fingersA · mineB · glancesC · dancesC · divineB · mineB
- 2 AABCCBB discoverA · loverA · allB · tremblesC · dissemblesC · fallB · allB
- 3 ABBAB belongA · playingB · prayingB · strongA · gainsayingB
- 4 A-BAB lowA · entrancing · dancingB · froA · glancingB
- 5 AAAAA stirA · herA · herA · herA · herA
- 6 ABBAB resoluteA · greetingB · entreatingB · suitA · meetingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet music lingers | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| From her harpstrings on her fingers, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| When they rest in mine: | 5 | ····· |
| And her clear glances | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Help the music, whereto dances, | 8 | ··/˘˘//˘ |
| Trembling with an hope divine, | 8 | /˘˘···˘/ |
| Every heart: and chiefly mine. | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Could she discover | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| All her heart to any lover, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| She who sways them all? | 5 | ····· |
| Yet her hand trembles, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Laid in mine: and scarce dissembles, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| That its music looks to fall | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Into mine, and Love end all. | 7 | ······· |
| The airs, that best belong, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Upon the strings devoutly playing, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Your heart devoutly praying: | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Now sound your passion, full and strong, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Past all her fond gainsaying. | 7 | ····/·˘ |
| First, strangely sweet and low, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Slowly her careless ears entrancing: | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Then set the music dancing, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And wild notes flying to and fro; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like spirited sunbeams glancing. | 8 | ·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| The melodies will stir | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Spirits of love, that still attend her: | 9 | /˘····˘/· |
| That able are to bend her, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| By subtile arts transforming her; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And all their wisdom fend her. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Last, loud and resolute, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ring out a triumph and a greeting! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| No call for sad entreating, | 7 | ······· |
| For she will grant you all your suit, | 8 | ········ |
| Her song your music meeting. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
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.