By Jean Reboul, the Baker of Nismes
An angel with a radiant face,Above a cradle bent to look,Seemed his own image there to trace,As in the waters of a brook.
"Dear child! who me resemblest so,"It whispered, "come, O come with me!Happy together let us go,The earth unworthy is of thee!
"Here none to perfect bliss attain;The soul in pleasure suffering lies;Joy hath an undertone of pain,And even the happiest hours their sighs.
"Fear doth at every portal knock;Never a day serene and pureFrom the o'ershadowing tempest's shockHath made the morrow's dawn secure.
"What then, shall sorrows and shall fearsCome to disturb so pure a brow?And with the bitterness of tearsThese eyes of azure troubled grow?
"Ah no! into the fields of space,Away shalt thou escape with me;And Providence will grant thee graceOf all the days that were to be.
"Let no one in thy dwelling cower,In sombre vestments draped and veiled;But let them welcome thy last hour,As thy first moments once they hailed.
"Without a cloud be there each brow;There let the grave no shadow cast;When one is pure as thou art now,The fairest day is still the last."
And waving wide his wings of white,The angel, at these words, had spedTowards the eternal realms of light!--Poor mother! see, thy son is dead!
Words in this poem
- undertone n.
- A low or subdued tone or utterance; a tone less loud than usual.
- 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,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
By Jean Reboul, the Baker of Nismes is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; 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 Wadsworth Longfellow, By Jean Reboul, the Baker of Nismes, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/by-jean-reboul-the-baker-of-nismes.html, id L18083.
Form and metre
By Jean Reboul, the Baker of Nismes is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB faceA · lookB · traceA · brookB
- 2 ABAB soA · meB · goA · theeB
- 3 ABAB attainA · liesB · painA · sighsB
- 4 ABAB knockA · pureB · shockA · secureB
- 5 A-A- fearsA · brow · tearsA · grow
- 6 ABAB spaceA · meB · graceA · beB
- 7 ABAB cowerA · veiledB · hourA · hailedB
- 8 ABAB browA · castB · nowA · lastB
- 9 ABAB whiteA · spedB · lightA · deadB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| An angel with a radiant face, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Above a cradle bent to look, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Seemed his own image there to trace, | 9 | ·˘··/˘··· |
| As in the waters of a brook. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Dear child! who me resemblest so," | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| It whispered, "come, O come with me! | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Happy together let us go, | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| The earth unworthy is of thee! | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| "Here none to perfect bliss attain; | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| The soul in pleasure suffering lies; | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| Joy hath an undertone of pain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And even the happiest hours their sighs. | 10 | ·/·/˘˘/˘·· |
| "Fear doth at every portal knock; | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Never a day serene and pure | 8 | /˘··˘/·· |
| From the o'ershadowing tempest's shock | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Hath made the morrow's dawn secure. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "What then, shall sorrows and shall fears | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Come to disturb so pure a brow? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And with the bitterness of tears | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| These eyes of azure troubled grow? | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| "Ah no! into the fields of space, | 8 | ········ |
| Away shalt thou escape with me; | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| And Providence will grant thee grace | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Of all the days that were to be. | 8 | ········ |
| "Let no one in thy dwelling cower, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In sombre vestments draped and veiled; | 10 | ·/˘···˘··˘ |
| But let them welcome thy last hour, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| As thy first moments once they hailed. | 9 | ···/˘···˘ |
| "Without a cloud be there each brow; | 8 | ········ |
| There let the grave no shadow cast; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| When one is pure as thou art now, | 8 | ········ |
| The fairest day is still the last." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And waving wide his wings of white, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The angel, at these words, had sped | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Towards the eternal realms of light!-- | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Poor mother! see, thy son is dead! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.