To Hope
When by my solitary hearth I sit,And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit,And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head.
Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night,Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray,Should sad Despondency my musings fright,And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away,Peep with the moon-beams through the leafy roof,And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof.
Should Disappointment, parent of Despair,Strive for her son to seize my careless heart;When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air,Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart:Chace him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright,And fright him as the morning frightens night!
Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dearTells to my fearful breast a tale of sorrow,O bright-eyed Hope, my morbid fancy cheer;Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow:Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed,And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain,From cruel parents, or relentless fair;O let me think it is not quite in vainTo sigh out sonnets to the midnight air!Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed.And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!
In the long vista of the years to roll,Let me not see our country's honour fade:O let me see our land retain her soul,Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade.From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shed--Beneath thy pinions canopy my head!
Let me not see the patriot's high bequest,Great Liberty! how great in plain attire!With the base purple of a court oppress'd,Bowing her head, and ready to expire:But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wingsThat fill the skies with silver glitterings!
And as, in sparkling majesty, a starGilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud;Brightening the half veil'd face of heaven afar:So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed,Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head.
Words in this poem
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- enwrap v. t.
- To envelop. See Inwrap.
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- disappointment n.
- The act of disappointing, or the state of being disappointed; defeat or failure of expectation or hope; miscarriage of design or plan; frustration. [Cf. F. désappointement.]
- chace v. t.
- To pursue. See Chase v. t.
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- vista n.
- A view; especially, a view through or between intervening objects, as trees; a view or prospect through an avenue, or the like; hence, the trees or other objects that form the avenue. [It., sight, view, fr. vedere, p. p. visto, veduto, to see, fr. L. videre, visum. See View, Vision.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- boding a.
- Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Hope is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems 1817, Project Gutenberg ebook #8209; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Keats, To Hope, in Poems (1817) (1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8209, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/keats-1817/to-hope.html, id L00405.
Form and metre
To Hope is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 sitA · gloomB · flitA · bloomB · shedC · headC
- 2 ABABCC nightA · rayB · frightA · awayB · roofC · aloofC
- 3 ABABCC despairA · heartB · airA · dartB · brightC · nightC
- 4 A-A-BB dearA · sorrow · cheerA · borrow · shedB · headB
- 5 ABABCC painA · fairB · vainA · airB · shedC · headC
- 6 ABABCC rollA · fadeB · soulA · shadeB · shedC · headC
- 7 A-A-BB bequestA · attire · oppress'dA · expire · wingsB · glitteringsB
- 8 ABABCC starA · cloudB · afarA · shroudB · shedC · headC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When by my solitary hearth I sit, | 10 | ···/˘·˘··· |
| And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the bare heath of life presents no bloom; | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Should sad Despondency my musings fright, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Peep with the moon-beams through the leafy roof, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof. | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Should Disappointment, parent of Despair, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Strive for her son to seize my careless heart; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air, | 10 | ·········· |
| Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart: | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Chace him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| And fright him as the morning frightens night! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear | 11 | ··········· |
| Tells to my fearful breast a tale of sorrow, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| O bright-eyed Hope, my morbid fancy cheer; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow: | 11 | ··˘/·/˘/˘/· |
| Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed, | 10 | ·/·/˘˘···· |
| And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| From cruel parents, or relentless fair; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| O let me think it is not quite in vain | 10 | ·········· |
| To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air! | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| In the long vista of the years to roll, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Let me not see our country's honour fade: | 10 | ····//˘/˘· |
| O let me see our land retain her soul, | 10 | ····/·˘/·· |
| Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shed-- | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Beneath thy pinions canopy my head! | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Let me not see the patriot's high bequest, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Great Liberty! how great in plain attire! | 11 | ·/˘˘····˘/˘ |
| With the base purple of a court oppress'd, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Bowing her head, and ready to expire: | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wings | 10 | ·······/·· |
| That fill the skies with silver glitterings! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| And as, in sparkling majesty, a star | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Brightening the half veil'd face of heaven afar: | 10 | /˘·····/˘/ |
| So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head. | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
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