A Longing
The lindens are scattering their fragrance like clover,While the gay flowers bloom in the garden below;A fawn-coloured mist spreads its canopy overThe earth, and the mountains are covered with snow.
On the bosom of youth summer's brightness is glowing,And the buds and the blossoms abundantly spread;But the dews and the darkness my path are o'erflowing,And the dead leaves of autumn are dropt on my head.
For so our lives fade, like the bud and the blossom;But come to me sweet one! in gentleness come!And lay thy dear head on my welcoming bosom,That head which to-morrow may bend o'er my tomb.
Dost answer? "Not so! be my fate to precede thee,Come thou to my cerements and bathe them with tears;But let not some young laughing maiden mislead thee,And say that my love was less tender than hers."
The veil of the widow—O take it and bind it,A banner of victory, over the crossOn my breast—I shall rise from the death-world and find it,A kerchief to dry up the tears which my loss
Has drawn from my eyelids—but never! O neverOne thought of oblivion my spirit shall grieve;My love will be with thee for ever and ever,And live while eternity's cycles shall live.
Words in this poem
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- 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,]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Longing is in the public domain. This text is taken from Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet, by Sir John Bowring (London: Trübner & Co., 1866), Internet Archive, the John Bowring 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: Sándor Petőfi, A Longing, in Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet (1866), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petofi-poems-bowring/a-longing.html, id L29832.
Form and metre
A Longing is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABAB cloverA · belowB · overA · snowB
- 2 ABAB glowingA · spreadB · o'erflowingA · headB
- 3 AAAA blossomA · comeA · bosomA · tombA
- 4 A-A- theeA · tears · theeA · hers
- 5 ABAB itA · crossB · itA · lossB
- 6 A-A- neverA · grieve · everA · live
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The lindens are scattering their fragrance like clover, | 13 | ·/˘·/˘˘·/˘·/˘ |
| While the gay flowers bloom in the garden below; | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| A fawn-coloured mist spreads its canopy over | 12 | ··/˘···/˘˘·· |
| The earth, and the mountains are covered with snow. | 12 | ····/˘·/˘˘·· |
| On the bosom of youth summer's brightness is glowing, | 13 | ··/˘··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| And the buds and the blossoms abundantly spread; | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| But the dews and the darkness my path are o'erflowing, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And the dead leaves of autumn are dropt on my head. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| For so our lives fade, like the bud and the blossom; | 13 | ··/˘·······/˘ |
| But come to me sweet one! in gentleness come! | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| And lay thy dear head on my welcoming bosom, | 12 | ·······/˘˘/˘ |
| That head which to-morrow may bend o'er my tomb. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Dost answer? "Not so! be my fate to precede thee, | 12 | ·/˘······˘/· |
| Come thou to my cerements and bathe them with tears; | 12 | ············ |
| But let not some young laughing maiden mislead thee, | 12 | ·····/˘/˘˘/· |
| And say that my love was less tender than hers." | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The veil of the widow—O take it and bind it, | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| A banner of victory, over the cross | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘···· |
| On my breast—I shall rise from the death-world and find it, | 13 | ············· |
| A kerchief to dry up the tears which my loss | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Has drawn from my eyelids—but never! O never | 12 | ····/··/˘·/˘ |
| One thought of oblivion my spirit shall grieve; | 12 | ···˘/˘˘·/˘·· |
| My love will be with thee for ever and ever, | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| And live while eternity's cycles shall live. | 11 | ···˘/˘˘/˘·· |
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.