Written on Recovery from Sickness
Once more, O Trent! along thy pebbly margeA pensive invalid, reduced and pale,From the close sick-room newly set at large,Woos to his wan worn cheek the pleasant gale.O! to his ear how musical the taleWhich fills with joy the throstle's little throat!And all the sounds which on the fresh breeze sail,How wildly novel on his senses float!It was on this that many a sleepless night,As lone he watch'd the taper's sickly gleam,And at his casement heard, with wild affright,The owl's dull wing, and melancholy scream,On this he thought, this, this, his sole desire,Thus once again to hear the warbling woodland choir.
Words in this poem
- pebbly a.
- Full of pebbles; pebbled.
- marge n.
- Border; margin; edge; verge. [F. marge. See Margin.]
- sleepless a.
- Having no sleep; wakeful.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written on Recovery from Sickness is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, Written on Recovery from Sickness, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/written-on-recovery-from-sickness.html, id L10116.
Form and metre
Written on Recovery from Sickness is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCBCDEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 ABABBCBCDEDEFF margeA · paleB · largeA · galeB · taleB · throatC · sailB · floatC · nightD · gleamE · affrightD · screamE · desireF · choirF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Once more, O Trent! along thy pebbly marge | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| A pensive invalid, reduced and pale, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/·· |
| From the close sick-room newly set at large, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Woos to his wan worn cheek the pleasant gale. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O! to his ear how musical the tale | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Which fills with joy the throstle's little throat! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And all the sounds which on the fresh breeze sail, | 10 | ·········· |
| How wildly novel on his senses float! | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| It was on this that many a sleepless night, | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| As lone he watch'd the taper's sickly gleam, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And at his casement heard, with wild affright, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The owl's dull wing, and melancholy scream, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| On this he thought, this, this, his sole desire, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thus once again to hear the warbling woodland choir. | 12 | ··˘/···/˘/·/ |
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.