Hymn to the Night VI: Longing after Death
Into the bosom of the earth!Out of the Light’s dominions!Death’s pains are but the bursting forthOf glad Departure’s pinions!Swift in the narrow little boat,Swift to the heavenly shore we float!
Blest be the everlasting Night,And blest the endless Slumber!We are heated with the day too bright,And withered up with cumber!We’re weary of that life abroad:Come, we will now go home to God!
Why longer in this world abide?Why love and truth here cherish?That which is old is set aside--Forus the new may perish!Alone he stands and sore downcastWho loves with pious warmth the Past.
The Past where yet the human spiritIn lofty flames did rise;Where men the Father did inherit,His countenance recognize;And, in simplicity made ripe,Many grew like their archetype.
The Past wherin, still rich in bloom,Old stems did burgeon glorious;And children, for the world to come,Sought pain and death victorious;And, though both life and pleasure spake,Yet many a heart for love did break.
The Past, where to the glow of youthGod yet himself declared;And early death, in loving truthThe young beheld, and dared--Anguish and torture patient boreTo prove they loved him as of yore.
With anxious yearning now we seeThat Past in darkness drenched;With this world’s water never weShall find our hot thirst quenched:To our old home we have to goThat blessed time again to know.
What yet doth hinder our return?Long since repose our precious!Their grave is of our life the bourn;We shrink from times ungracious!By not a hope are we decoyed:The heart is full; the world is void!
Infinite and mysterious,Thrills through me a sweet trembling,As if from far there echoed thusA sigh, our grief resembling:The dear ones long as well as I,And send to me their waiting sigh.
Down to the sweet bride, and awayTo the beloved Jesus!Courage! the evening shades grow gray,Of all our griefs to ease us!A dream will dash our chains apart,And lay us on the Father’s heart.
Words in this poem
- departure n.
- Division; separation; putting away. [From Depart.]
- cumber n.
- Trouble; embarrassment; distress. [Cf. encombre hindrance, impediment. See Cuber,v.]
- burgeon v. i.
- To bud. See Bourgeon.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- 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,]
- bourn n.
- A stream or rivulet; a burn. [OE. burne, borne, AS. burna; akin to OS. brunno spring, G. born, brunnen, OHG. prunno, Goth. brunna, Icel. brunnr, and perh. to Gr. burn, v., because the source]
- ungracious a.
- Not gracious; showing no grace or kindness; being without good will; unfeeling.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn to the Night VI: Longing after Death is in the public domain. This text is taken from Rampolli: Growths from a Long-Planted Root (Hymns to the Night only), Project Gutenberg ebook #8949, the George MacDonald translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Novalis, Hymn to the Night VI: Longing after Death, in Hymns to the Night (1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8949, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/novalis-hymns-to-the-night/hymn-6.html, id L27971.
Form and metre
Hymn to the Night VI: Longing after Death is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 3 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 -A-ABB earth · dominionsA · forth · pinionsA · boatB · floatB
- 2 ABAB-- nightA · slumberB · brightA · cumberB · abroad · god
- 3 -A-ABB abide · cherishA · for · perishA · downcastB · pastB
- 4 -A-ABB spirit · riseA · inherit · recognizeA · ripeB · archetypeB
- 5 -A-ABB bloom · gloriousA · come · victoriousA · spakeB · breakB
- 6 ABABCC youthA · declaredB · truthA · daredB · boreC · yoreC
- 7 A-A-BB seeA · drenched · weA · quenched · goB · knowB
- 8 -A-ABB return · preciousA · bourn · ungraciousA · decoyedB · voidB
- 9 ABABCC mysteriousA · tremblingB · thusA · resemblingB · iC · sighC
- 10 ABABCC awayA · jesusB · grayA · usB · apartC · 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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Into the bosom of the earth! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Out of the Light’s dominions! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Death’s pains are but the bursting forth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of glad Departure’s pinions! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Swift in the narrow little boat, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Swift to the heavenly shore we float! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Blest be the everlasting Night, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And blest the endless Slumber! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| We are heated with the day too bright, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And withered up with cumber! | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| We’re weary of that life abroad: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Come, we will now go home to God! | 8 | ········ |
| Why longer in this world abide? | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Why love and truth here cherish? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That which is old is set aside--For | 9 | ······˘/· |
| us the new may perish! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Alone he stands and sore downcast | 8 | ˘/····/· |
| Who loves with pious warmth the Past. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Past where yet the human spirit | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In lofty flames did rise; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where men the Father did inherit, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| His countenance recognize; | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| And, in simplicity made ripe, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Many grew like their archetype. | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| The Past wherin, still rich in bloom, | 8 | ········ |
| Old stems did burgeon glorious; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| And children, for the world to come, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sought pain and death victorious; | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| And, though both life and pleasure spake, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet many a heart for love did break. | 8 | ·/······ |
| The Past, where to the glow of youth | 8 | ········ |
| God yet himself declared; | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| And early death, in loving truth | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The young beheld, and dared-- | 7 | ··˘/··˘ |
| Anguish and torture patient bore | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| To prove they loved him as of yore. | 8 | ········ |
| With anxious yearning now we see | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That Past in darkness drenched; | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| With this world’s water never we | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Shall find our hot thirst quenched: | 8 | ··/˘···˘ |
| To our old home we have to go | 8 | ·/······ |
| That blessed time again to know. | 8 | ··˘·˘/·· |
| What yet doth hinder our return? | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| Long since repose our precious! | 8 | ··˘//˘/˘ |
| Their grave is of our life the bourn; | 8 | ····/··· |
| We shrink from times ungracious! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| By not a hope are we decoyed: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The heart is full; the world is void! | 8 | ········ |
| Infinite and mysterious, | 8 | /˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Thrills through me a sweet trembling, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| As if from far there echoed thus | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A sigh, our grief resembling: | 9 | ··/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| The dear ones long as well as I, | 8 | ········ |
| And send to me their waiting sigh. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Down to the sweet bride, and away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To the beloved Jesus! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Courage! the evening shades grow gray, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Of all our griefs to ease us! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| A dream will dash our chains apart, | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| And lay us on the Father’s heart. | 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.