Anticipation
What wildering thoughts my mind engage,When wending on my homeward way!(I had not seen her for an age)What shall I to my mother say?
What honied words of love and joy,When I shall clasp her to my breast,And the same arms that hugged the boyAround the rugged man be prest?
A thousand, thousand thoughts oppress,Of what is—will be—and hath been;All mingling in a happiness,That is as sacred as serene.
To the old cottage door I come,My mother springs to welcome me!I hang upon her lips—but dumbAs is the fruit upon the tree.
Words in this poem
- wildering n.
- A plant growing in a state of nature; especially, one which has run wild, or escaped from cultivation.
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- 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,]
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anticipation 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, Anticipation, in Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet (1866), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petofi-poems-bowring/anticipation.html, id L29841.
Form and metre
Anticipation is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 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 ABAB engageA · wayB · ageA · sayB
- 2 ABAB joyA · breastB · boyA · prestB
- 3 ABAB oppressA · beenB · happinessA · sereneB
- 4 ABAB comeA · meB · dumbA · treeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What wildering thoughts my mind engage, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| When wending on my homeward way! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| (I had not seen her for an age) | 8 | ········ |
| What shall I to my mother say? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What honied words of love and joy, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When I shall clasp her to my breast, | 8 | ········ |
| And the same arms that hugged the boy | 8 | ········ |
| Around the rugged man be prest? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A thousand, thousand thoughts oppress, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Of what is—will be—and hath been; | 8 | ········ |
| All mingling in a happiness, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| That is as sacred as serene. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To the old cottage door I come, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My mother springs to welcome me! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I hang upon her lips—but dumb | 8 | ········ |
| As is the fruit upon the tree. | 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.