Compensation
'T is not alone that black and yawning voidThat makes her heart ache with this hungry pain,But the glad sense of life hath been destroyed,The lost delight may never come again.Yet myriad serious blessings with grave graceArise on every side to fill their place.
For much abides in her so lonely life,--The dear companionship of her own kind,Love where least looked for, quiet after strife,Whispers of promise upon every wind,A quickened insight, in awakened eyes,For the new meaning of the earth and skies.
The nameless charm about all things hath died,Subtle as aureole round a shadow's head,Cast on the dewy grass at morning-tide;Yet though the glory and the joy be fled,'T is much her own endurance to have weighed,And wrestled with God's angels, unafraid.
Words in this poem
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- insight n.
- A sight or view of the interior of anything; a deep inspection or view; introspection; -- frequently used with into.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- aureole n.
- A celestial crown or accidental glory added to the bliss of heaven, as a reward to those (as virgins, martyrs, preachers, etc.) who have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. [F. auréole, fr. L. aureola, (fem adj.) of gold (sc. corona crown), dim. of aureus. See Aureate, Oriole.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Compensation is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #3295; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emma Lazarus, Compensation, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/compensation.html, id L01875.
Form and metre
Compensation is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 11% 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 voidA · painB · destroyedA · againB · graceC · placeC
- 2 ABABCC lifeA · kindB · strifeA · windB · eyesC · skiesC
- 3 ABABCC diedA · headB · tideA · fledB · weighedC · unafraidC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'T is not alone that black and yawning void | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| That makes her heart ache with this hungry pain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But the glad sense of life hath been destroyed, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The lost delight may never come again. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Yet myriad serious blessings with grave grace | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Arise on every side to fill their place. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| For much abides in her so lonely life,-- | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The dear companionship of her own kind, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Love where least looked for, quiet after strife, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Whispers of promise upon every wind, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| A quickened insight, in awakened eyes, | 10 | ·/˘/··˘/˘· |
| For the new meaning of the earth and skies. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The nameless charm about all things hath died, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Subtle as aureole round a shadow's head, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| Cast on the dewy grass at morning-tide; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Yet though the glory and the joy be fled, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'T is much her own endurance to have weighed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And wrestled with God's angels, unafraid. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
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.