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Maidenhood

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) · 1839–1882

trochaic tetrameter · rhyming couplets · 48 lines · from The Complete Poetical Works

Maiden! with the meek, brown eyes,In whose orbs a shadow liesLike the dusk in evening skies!

Thou whose locks outshine the sun,Golden tresses, wreathed in one,As the braided streamlets run!

Standing, with reluctant feet,Where the brook and river meet,Womanhood and childhood fleet!

Gazing, with a timid glance,On the brooklet's swift advance,On the river's broad expanse!

Deep and still, that gliding streamBeautiful to thee must seem,As the river of a dream.

Then why pause with indecision,When bright angels in thy visionBeckon thee to fields Elysian?

Seest thou shadows sailing by,As the dove, with startled eye,Sees the falcon's shadow fly?

Hearest thou voices on the shore,That our ears perceive no more,Deafened by the cataract's roar?

O, thou child of many prayers!Life hath quicksands,--Life hath snaresCare and age come unawares!

Like the swell of some sweet tune,Morning rises into noon,May glides onward into June.

Childhood is the bough, where slumberedBirds and blossoms many-numbered;--Age, that bough with snows encumbered.

Gather, then, each flower that grows,When the young heart overflows,To embalm that tent of snows.

Bear a lily in thy hand;Gates of brass cannot withstandOne touch of that magic wand.

Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth,In thy heart the dew of youth,On thy lips the smile of truth!

O, that dew, like balm, shall stealInto wounds that cannot heal,Even as sleep our eyes doth seal;

And that smile, like sunshine, dartInto many a sunless heart,For a smile of God thou art.

Words in this poem

outshine v. i.: To shine forth.
childhood n.: The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
indecision n.: Want of decision; want of settled purpose, or of firmness; indetermination; wavering of mind; irresolution; vacillation; hesitation. [Pref. in- not + decision: cf. F. indécision.]
beckon v. t.: To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
elysian a.: Pertaining, or the abode of the blessed after death; hence, yielding the highest pleasures; exceedingly delightful; beatific. [L. Elysius, fr. Elysium.]
ruth n.: Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
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,]
sunshine n.: The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
sunless a.: Destitute or deprived of the sun or its rays; shaded; shadowed.

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

About this text

Maidenhood 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, Maidenhood, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/maidenhood.html, id L17505.

Form and metre

Maidenhood is 48 lines in 16 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 6 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 rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AAA eyes^A · lies^A · skies^A
2 AAA sun^A · one^A · run^A
3 AAA feet^A · meet^A · fleet^A
4 AAA glance^A · advance^A · expanse^A
5 AAA stream^A · seem^A · dream^A
6 AA- indecision^A · vision^A · elysian
7 AAA by^A · eye^A · fly^A
8 AAA shore^A · more^A · roar^A
9 AAA prayers^A · snares^A · unawares^A
10 AAA tune^A · noon^A · june^A
11 AAA slumbered^A · numbered^A · encumbered^A
12 AAA grows^A · overflows^A · snows^A
13 AA- hand^A · withstand^A · wand
14 AAA ruth^A · youth^A · truth^A
15 AAA steal^A · heal^A · seal^A
16 AAA dart^A · heart^A · art^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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Maiden! with the meek, brown eyes,	7	/˘·····
In whose orbs a shadow lies	7	····/··
Like the dusk in evening skies!	7	····/˘·
Thou whose locks outshine the sun,	7	···/···
Golden tresses, wreathed in one,	7	/˘/˘···
As the braided streamlets run!	7	··/˘···
Standing, with reluctant feet,	7	/˘·˘/˘·
Where the brook and river meet,	7	····/˘·
Womanhood and childhood fleet!	7	/˘··/··
Gazing, with a timid glance,	7	/˘··/˘·
On the brooklet's swift advance,	7	·····˘/
On the river's broad expanse!	7	··/˘·˘/
Deep and still, that gliding stream	7	····/˘·
Beautiful to thee must seem,	7	/˘˘····
As the river of a dream.	7	··/˘···
Then why pause with indecision,	8	····˘˘/˘
When bright angels in thy vision	8	··/˘··/˘
Beckon thee to fields Elysian?	8	/˘···˘/˘
Seest thou shadows sailing by,	7	··/·/˘·
As the dove, with startled eye,	7	····/˘·
Sees the falcon's shadow fly?	7	··/˘/··
Hearest thou voices on the shore,	8	/˘·/˘···
That our ears perceive no more,	8	·/˘·˘/··
Deafened by the cataract's roar?	9	/˘˘··/˘··
O, thou child of many prayers!	7	····/˘·
Life hath quicksands,--Life hath snares	7	··/····
Care and age come unawares!	7	·····˘/
Like the swell of some sweet tune,	7	·······
Morning rises into noon,	7	/˘/˘···
May glides onward into June.	7	··/˘···
Childhood is the bough, where slumbered	9	/·····/˘˘
Birds and blossoms many-numbered;--	9	··/˘/˘/˘˘
Age, that bough with snows encumbered.	9	·····˘/˘˘
Gather, then, each flower that grows,	8	/˘··/˘··
When the young heart overflows,	7	····/˘·
To embalm that tent of snows.	7	·˘/····
Bear a lily in thy hand;	7	··/˘···
Gates of brass cannot withstand	7	···˘/˘/
One touch of that magic wand.	7	····/˘·
Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth,	7	··/˘···
In thy heart the dew of youth,	7	·······
On thy lips the smile of truth!	7	·······
O, that dew, like balm, shall steal	7	·······
Into wounds that cannot heal,	7	····/˘·
Even as sleep our eyes doth seal;	9	/˘··/˘···
And that smile, like sunshine, dart	7	····/··
Into many a sunless heart,	8	··/˘·/˘·
For a smile of God thou art.	7	·······

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.

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