Laurel · Lionel Johnson · Poems

Parnell

Lionel Johnson (1867–1902) · 1895

iambic trimeter · ABAB · 48 lines · from Poems

The wail of Irish winds,The cry of Irish seas:Eternal sorrow findsEternal voice in these.

I cannot praise our dead,Whom Ireland weeps so well:Her morning light, that fled;Her morning star, that fell.

She of the mournful eyesWaits, and no dark clouds break:Waits, and her strong son liesDead, for her holy sake.

Her heart is sorrow's home.And hath been from of old:An host of griefs hath come,To make that heart their fold.

Ah, the sad autumn day,When the last sad troop cameSwift down the ancient way,Keening a chieftain's name!

Gray hope was there, and dread;Anger, and love in tears:They mourned the dear and dead,Dirge of the ruined years.

Home to her heart she drewThe mourning company:Old sorrows met the new,In sad fraternity.

A mother, and forget?Nay! all her children's fateIreland remembers yet,With love insatiate.

She hears the heavy bells:Hears, and with passionate breathEternally she tellsA rosary of death.

Faithful and true is she,The mother of us all:Faithful and true! may weFail her not, though we fall.

Her son, our brother, liesDead, for her holy sake:But from the dead ariseVoices, that bid us wake.

Not his, to hail the dawn:His but the herald's part.Be ours to see withdrawnNight from our mother's heart.

Words in this poem

dirge n.: A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
insatiate a.: Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
eternally adv.: In an eternal manner.
rosary n.: A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Parnell 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, Parnell, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-lionel-poems/parnell.html, id L12479.

Form and metre

Parnell is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 11 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).

See other poems in iambic trimeter.

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 winds^A · seas^B · finds^A · these^B
2 ABAB dead^A · well^B · fled^A · fell^B
3 ABAB eyes^A · break^B · lies^A · sake^B
4 ABAB home^A · old^B · come^A · fold^B
5 ABAB day^A · came^B · way^A · name^B
6 ABAB dread^A · tears^B · dead^A · years^B
7 A-A- drew^A · company · new^A · fraternity
8 ABAB forget^A · fate^B · yet^A · insatiate^B
9 ABAB bells^A · breath^B · tells^A · death^B
10 ABAB she^A · all^B · we^A · fall^B
11 ABAB lies^A · sake^B · arise^A · wake^B
12 ABAB dawn^A · part^B · withdrawn^A · heart^B

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
The wail of Irish winds,	6	···/˘·
The cry of Irish seas:	6	···/˘·
Eternal sorrow finds	6	˘/˘/˘·
Eternal voice in these.	6	˘/˘···
I cannot praise our dead,	6	·˘/·/·
Whom Ireland weeps so well:	6	·/˘···
Her morning light, that fled;	6	·/˘···
Her morning star, that fell.	6	·/˘···
She of the mournful eyes	6	···/˘·
Waits, and no dark clouds break:	6	······
Waits, and her strong son lies	6	······
Dead, for her holy sake.	6	···/˘·
Her heart is sorrow's home.	6	···/˘·
And hath been from of old:	6	······
An host of griefs hath come,	6	······
To make that heart their fold.	6	······
Ah, the sad autumn day,	6	···/˘·
When the last sad troop came	6	······
Swift down the ancient way,	6	···/˘·
Keening a chieftain's name!	6	/˘·/˘·
Gray hope was there, and dread;	6	······
Anger, and love in tears:	6	/˘····
They mourned the dear and dead,	6	······
Dirge of the ruined years.	6	···/˘·
Home to her heart she drew	6	······
The mourning company:	6	·/˘/˘˘
Old sorrows met the new,	6	·/˘···
In sad fraternity.	6	··˘/˘˘
A mother, and forget?	6	·/˘·˘/
Nay! all her children's fate	6	···/˘·
Ireland remembers yet,	6	/˘˘/˘·
With love insatiate.	6	··˘/˘˘
She hears the heavy bells:	6	···/˘·
Hears, and with passionate breath	6	···/˘·
Eternally she tells	6	˘/˘˘··
A rosary of death.	6	·/˘˘··
Faithful and true is she,	6	/˘····
The mother of us all:	6	·/˘···
Faithful and true! may we	6	/˘····
Fail her not, though we fall.	6	······
Her son, our brother, lies	6	··//˘·
Dead, for her holy sake:	6	···/˘·
But from the dead arise	6	····˘/
Voices, that bid us wake.	6	/˘····
Not his, to hail the dawn:	6	······
His but the herald's part.	6	···/˘·
Be ours to see withdrawn	6	·/··˘/
Night from our mother's heart.	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.

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