Lohengrin
Back to the mystic shore beyond the mainThe mystic craft has sped, and left no trace.Ah, nevermore may she behold his face,Nor touch his hand, nor hear his voice again!With hidden front she crouches; all in vainThe proffered balm. A vessel nears the place;They bring her young, lost brother; see her strainThe new-found nursling in a close embrace.
God, we have lost Thee with much questioning.In vain we seek Thy trace by sea and land,And in Thine empty fanes where no men sing.What shall we do through all the weary days?Thus wail we and lament. Our eyes we raise,And, lo, our Brother with an outstretched hand!
Words in this poem
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- nevermore adv.
- Never again; at no time hereafter. Testament of Love. Tyndale.
- nursling n.
- One who, or that which, is nursed; an infant; a fondling. [Nurse + -ling.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lohengrin is in the public domain. This text is taken from A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #56974; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Amy Levy, Lohengrin, in A London Plane-Tree, and Other Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56974, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/levy-london-plane-tree/lohengrin.html, id L21550.
Form and metre
Lohengrin is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABBAABAB mainA · traceB · faceB · againA · vainA · placeB · strainA · embraceB
- 2 ABACCB questioningA · landB · singA · daysC · raiseC · handB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Back to the mystic shore beyond the main | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The mystic craft has sped, and left no trace. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Ah, nevermore may she behold his face, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Nor touch his hand, nor hear his voice again! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| With hidden front she crouches; all in vain | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The proffered balm. A vessel nears the place; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| They bring her young, lost brother; see her strain | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The new-found nursling in a close embrace. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| God, we have lost Thee with much questioning. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| In vain we seek Thy trace by sea and land, | 10 | ·········· |
| And in Thine empty fanes where no men sing. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| What shall we do through all the weary days? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thus wail we and lament. Our eyes we raise, | 10 | ····˘//··· |
| And, lo, our Brother with an outstretched hand! | 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.