Regret

Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) · 1867–1887

iambic pentameter · ABABBA · 24 lines · from Poems, Volume I

Thin summer rain on grass and bush and hedge,Reddening the road and deepening the greenOn wide, blurred lawn, and in close-tangled sedge;Veiling in gray the landscape stretched betweenThese low broad meadows and the pale hills seenBut dimly on the far horizon's edge.

In these transparent-clouded, gentle skies,Wherethrough the moist beams of the soft June sunMight any moment break, no sorrow lies,No note of grief in swollen brooks that run,No hint of woe in this subdued, calm toneOf all the prospect unto dreamy eyes.

Only a tender, unnamed half-regretFor the lost beauty of the gracious morn;A yearning aspiration, fainter yet,For brighter suns in joyous days unborn,Now while brief showers ruffle grass and corn,And all the earth lies shadowed, grave, and wet;

Space for the happy soul to pause againFrom pure content of all unbroken bliss,To dream the future void of grief and pain,And muse upon the past, in reveriesMore sweet for knowledge that the present isNot all complete, with mist and clouds and rain.

Words in this poem

veiling n.: A veil; a thin covering; also, material for making veils.
dimly adv.: In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
dreamy a.: Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
aspiration n.: The act of aspirating; the pronunciation of a letter with a full or strong emission of breath; an aspirated sound. [L. aspiratio, fr. aspirare: cf. F. aspiration.]
unborn a.: Not born; no yet brought into life; being still to appear; future.

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

About this text

Regret 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, Regret, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/regret.html, id L01865.

Form and metre

Regret is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABBA, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 ABABBA hedge^A · green^B · sedge^A · between^B · seen^B · edge^A
2 ABAB-A skies^A · sun^B · lies^A · run^B · tone · eyes^A
3 ABABBA regret^A · morn^B · yet^A · unborn^B · corn^B · wet^A
4 A-ABBA again^A · bliss · pain^A · reveries^B · is^B · rain^A

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
Thin summer rain on grass and bush and hedge,	10	·/˘·······
Reddening the road and deepening the green	10	/˘···/˘˘··
On wide, blurred lawn, and in close-tangled sedge;	10	·······/˘·
Veiling in gray the landscape stretched between	10	/˘···/····
These low broad meadows and the pale hills seen	10	···/······
But dimly on the far horizon's edge.	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
In these transparent-clouded, gentle skies,	10	··˘/˘/˘/˘·
Wherethrough the moist beams of the soft June sun	10	˘/········
Might any moment break, no sorrow lies,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
No note of grief in swollen brooks that run,	10	·····/˘···
No hint of woe in this subdued, calm tone	10	······˘/··
Of all the prospect unto dreamy eyes.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Only a tender, unnamed half-regret	10	/˘·/˘˘/·˘/
For the lost beauty of the gracious morn;	10	···/˘··/˘·
A yearning aspiration, fainter yet,	10	·/˘·˘/˘/˘·
For brighter suns in joyous days unborn,	10	·/˘··/˘·//
Now while brief showers ruffle grass and corn,	10	···/˘/˘···
And all the earth lies shadowed, grave, and wet;	10	·····/˘···
Space for the happy soul to pause again	10	···/˘···˘/
From pure content of all unbroken bliss,	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
To dream the future void of grief and pain,	10	···/˘·····
And muse upon the past, in reveries	10	·······/˘˘
More sweet for knowledge that the present is	10	···/˘··/˘·
Not all complete, with mist and clouds and rain.	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.

More by Emma Lazarus

Poems, Volume I