To the Memory of Hood
Another star 'neath Time's horizon dropped,To gleam o'er unknown lands and seas;Another heart that beat for freedom stopped,--What mournful words are these!
O Love Divine, that claspest our tired earth,And lullest it upon thy heart,Thou knowest how much a gentle soul is worthTo teach men what thou art!
His was a spirit that to all thy poorWas kind as slumber after pain:Why ope so soon thy heaven-deep Quiet's doorAnd call him home again?
Freedom needs all her poets: it is theyWho give her aspirations wings,And to the wiser law of music swayHer wild imaginings.
Yet thou hast called him, nor art thou unkind,O Love Divine, for 'tis thy willThat gracious natures leave their love behindTo work for Freedom still.
Let laurelled marbles weigh on other tombs,Let anthems peal for other dead,Rustling the bannered depth of minster-gloomsWith their exulting spread.
His epitaph shall mock the short-lived stone,No lichen shall its lines efface,He needs these few and simple lines aloneTo mark his resting-place:--
"Here lies a Poet. Stranger, if to theeHis claim to memory be obscure,If thou wouldst learn how truly great was he,Go, ask it of the poor."
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- bannered a.
- Decorated with a banner or banners
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- 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
To the Memory of Hood is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of James Russell Lowell With biographical sketch by Nathan Haskell Dole, Project Gutenberg ebook #38520; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Russell Lowell, To the Memory of Hood, in Poems (1844–1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38520, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lowell-james-russell-poems/to-the-memory-of-hood.html, id L13746.
Form and metre
To the Memory of Hood is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 8 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 8.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 ABAB droppedA · seasB · stoppedA · theseB
- 2 ABAB earthA · heartB · worthA · artB
- 3 -A-A poor · painA · door · againA
- 4 ABAB theyA · wingsB · swayA · imaginingsB
- 5 ABAB unkindA · willB · behindA · stillB
- 6 ABAB tombsA · deadB · gloomsA · spreadB
- 7 ABAB stoneA · effaceB · aloneA · placeB
- 8 ABAB theeA · obscureB · heA · poorB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Another star 'neath Time's horizon dropped, | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| To gleam o'er unknown lands and seas; | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Another heart that beat for freedom stopped,-- | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| What mournful words are these! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O Love Divine, that claspest our tired earth, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘//· |
| And lullest it upon thy heart, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou knowest how much a gentle soul is worth | 11 | ·/˘···/˘··· |
| To teach men what thou art! | 6 | ······ |
| His was a spirit that to all thy poor | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Was kind as slumber after pain: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Why ope so soon thy heaven-deep Quiet's door | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| And call him home again? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Freedom needs all her poets: it is they | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Who give her aspirations wings, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And to the wiser law of music sway | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Her wild imaginings. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Yet thou hast called him, nor art thou unkind, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| O Love Divine, for 'tis thy will | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| That gracious natures leave their love behind | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| To work for Freedom still. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Let laurelled marbles weigh on other tombs, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Let anthems peal for other dead, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Rustling the bannered depth of minster-glooms | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| With their exulting spread. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| His epitaph shall mock the short-lived stone, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| No lichen shall its lines efface, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| He needs these few and simple lines alone | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To mark his resting-place:-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Here lies a Poet. Stranger, if to thee | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| His claim to memory be obscure, | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| If thou wouldst learn how truly great was he, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Go, ask it of the poor." | 6 | ······ |
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.