As the Heart Hopes
It is a year dear one, since you afarWent out beyond my yearning mortal sight—A wondrous year! perchance in many a starYou have sojourned, or basked within the lightOf mightier suns; it may be you have trodThe glittering pathways of the Pleiades,And through the Milky Way's white mysteriesHave walked at will, fire-shod.
You may have gazed in the immortal eyesOf prophets and of martyrs; talked with seersLearned in all the lore of Paradise,The infinite wisdom of eternal years;To you the Sons of Morning may have sung,The impassioned strophes of their matin hymn,For you the choirs of the seraphimTheir harpings wild out-flung.
But still I think at eve you come to meFor old, delightsome speech of eye and lip,Deeming our mutual converse thus to beFairer than archangelic comradeship;Dearer our close communings fondly givenThan all the rainbow dreams a spirit knows,Sweeter my gathered violets than the roseUpon the hills of heaven.
Can any exquisite, unearthly morn,Silverly breaking o'er a starry plain,Give to your soul the poignant pleasure bornOf virgin moon and sunset's lustrous stainWhen we together watch them? Oh, apartA hundred universes you may roam,But still I know—I know—your only homeIs here within my heart!
Words in this poem 17
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- pleiades n.
- The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a constellation in the sky.
- impassioned p. p.
- Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
- matin n.
- A French mastiff. [F. matin.]
- seraphim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Seraph. Cf. Cherubim.
- harpings n.
- The fore parts of the wales, which encompass the bow of a vessel, and are fastened to the stem. Totten.
- delightsome a.
- Very pleasing; delightful.
- archangelic a.
- Of or pertaining to archangels; of the nature of, or resembling, an archangel. [Cf. F. archangélique.]
- comradeship n.
- The state of being a comrade; intimate fellowship.
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- unearthly a.
- Not terrestrial; supernatural; preternatural; hence, weird; appalling; terrific; as, an unearthly sight or sound.
- 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.]
- silverly adv.
- Like silver in appearance or in sound.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
As the Heart Hopes is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, As the Heart Hopes, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/as-the-heart-hopes.html, id L29411.
Form and metre
As the Heart Hopes is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDDC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABABCDDC afarA · sightB · starA · lightB · trodC · pleiadesD · mysteriesD · shodC
- 2 ABABCDDC eyesA · seersB · paradiseA · yearsB · sungC · hymnD · seraphimD · flungC
- 3 ABABCDDC meA · lipB · beA · comradeshipB · givenC · knowsD · roseD · heavenC
- 4 ABABCDDC mornA · plainB · bornA · stainB · apartC · roamD · homeD · heartC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is a year dear one, since you afar | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Went out beyond my yearning mortal sight— | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| A wondrous year! perchance in many a star | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/·· |
| You have sojourned, or basked within the light | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Of mightier suns; it may be you have trod | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The glittering pathways of the Pleiades, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| And through the Milky Way's white mysteries | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Have walked at will, fire-shod. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You may have gazed in the immortal eyes | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Of prophets and of martyrs; talked with seers | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Learned in all the lore of Paradise, | 10 | ·˘·····/˘· |
| The infinite wisdom of eternal years; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| To you the Sons of Morning may have sung, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The impassioned strophes of their matin hymn, | 10 | ·˘/˘···/˘· |
| For you the choirs of the seraphim | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Their harpings wild out-flung. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But still I think at eve you come to me | 10 | ·········· |
| For old, delightsome speech of eye and lip, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Deeming our mutual converse thus to be | 10 | /˘//˘˘/··· |
| Fairer than archangelic comradeship; | 10 | /˘·····/˘˘ |
| Dearer our close communings fondly given | 11 | /˘/·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Than all the rainbow dreams a spirit knows, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Sweeter my gathered violets than the rose | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Upon the hills of heaven. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Can any exquisite, unearthly morn, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Silverly breaking o'er a starry plain, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| Give to your soul the poignant pleasure born | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Of virgin moon and sunset's lustrous stain | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| When we together watch them? Oh, apart | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| A hundred universes you may roam, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘··· |
| But still I know—I know—your only home | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Is here within my heart! | 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.