Loneliness
All stupor of surprise hath passed away;She sees, with clearer vision than before,A world far off of light and laughter gay,Herself alone and lonely evermore.Folk come and go, and reach her in no wise,Mere flitting phantoms to her heavy eyes.
All outward things, that once seemed part of her,Fall from her, like the leaves in autumn shed.She feels as one embalmed in spice and myrrh,With the heart eaten out, a long time dead;Unchanged without, the features and the form;Within, devoured by the thin red worm.
By her own prowess she must stand or fall,This grief is to be conquered day by day.Who could befriend her? who could make this small,Or her strength great? she meets it as she may.A weary struggle and a constant pain,She dreams not they may ever cease nor wane.
Words in this poem
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- flitting n.
- A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
- prowess n.
- Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness. Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney. [OF. proece, proesce, F. prouesse. See Prow, a.]
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Loneliness 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, Loneliness, in Admetus, and Other Poems (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/loneliness.html, id L01871.
Form and metre
Loneliness is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables.
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 awayA · beforeB · gayA · evermoreB · wiseC · eyesC
- 2 ABAB-- herA · shedB · myrrhA · deadB · form · worm
- 3 ABABCC fallA · dayB · smallA · mayB · painC · waneC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All stupor of surprise hath passed away; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| She sees, with clearer vision than before, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A world far off of light and laughter gay, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Herself alone and lonely evermore. | 10 | ˘/˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Folk come and go, and reach her in no wise, | 10 | ·········· |
| Mere flitting phantoms to her heavy eyes. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| All outward things, that once seemed part of her, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Fall from her, like the leaves in autumn shed. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| She feels as one embalmed in spice and myrrh, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| With the heart eaten out, a long time dead; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Unchanged without, the features and the form; | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Within, devoured by the thin red worm. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| By her own prowess she must stand or fall, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| This grief is to be conquered day by day. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who could befriend her? who could make this small, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Or her strength great? she meets it as she may. | 10 | ·········· |
| A weary struggle and a constant pain, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| She dreams not they may ever cease nor wane. | 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.