Poems
‘Rise,’ said the Master, ‘come unto the feast.’She heard the call and rose with willing feet;But thinking it not otherwise than meetFor such a bidding to put on her best,She is gone from us for a few short hoursInto her bridal closet, there to waitFor the unfolding of the palace gateThat gives her entrance to the blissful bowers.We have not seen her yet, though we have beenFull often to her chamber door, and oftHave listen’d underneath the postern green,And laid fresh flowers, and whisper’d short and soft.But she hath made no answer, and the dayFrom the clear west is fading fast away.
Words in this poem
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- postern n.
- Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate. [OF. posterne, posterle, F. poterne, fr. L. posterula, fr. posterus coming after. See Posterior.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; 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 Alford, Poems, (1810–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-henry-alford/the-bride.html, id L16218.
Form and metre
The Bride is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 -AA-BCCB-D-DEE feast · feetA · meetA · best · hoursB · waitC · gateC · bowersB · been · oftD · green · softD · dayE · awayE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ‘Rise,’ said the Master, ‘come unto the feast.’ | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| She heard the call and rose with willing feet; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But thinking it not otherwise than meet | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| For such a bidding to put on her best, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| She is gone from us for a few short hours | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Into her bridal closet, there to wait | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For the unfolding of the palace gate | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| That gives her entrance to the blissful bowers. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| We have not seen her yet, though we have been | 10 | ·········· |
| Full often to her chamber door, and oft | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Have listen’d underneath the postern green, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And laid fresh flowers, and whisper’d short and soft. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| But she hath made no answer, and the day | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| From the clear west is fading fast away. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
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.