A Lost Chord
Seated one day at the Organ,I was weary and ill at ease,And my fingers wandered idlyOver the noisy keys.
I do not know what I was playing,Or what I was dreaming then;But I struck one chord of music,Like the sound of a great Amen.
It flooded the crimson twilightLike the close of an Angel's Psalm,And it lay on my fevered spiritWith a touch of infinite calm.
It quieted pain and sorrow,Like love overcoming strife;It seemed the harmonious echoFrom our discordant life.
It linked all perplexed meaningsInto one perfect peace,And trembled away into silenceAs if it were loth to cease.
I have sought, but I seek it vainly,That one lost chord divine,Which came from the soul of the Organ,And entered into mine.
It may be that Death's bright angelWill speak in that chord again,--It may be that only in HeavenI shall hear that grand Amen.
Words in this poem
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
- overcoming a.
- Conquering; subduing.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Lost Chord is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, A Lost Chord, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/a-lost-chord.html, id L21763.
Form and metre
A Lost Chord is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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-A organ · easeA · idly · keysA
- 2 -A-A playing · thenA · music · amenA
- 3 ABAB twilightA · psalmB · spiritA · calmB
- 4 -A-A sorrow · strifeA · echo · lifeA
- 5 -A-A meanings · peaceA · silence · ceaseA
- 6 -AAA vainly · divineA · organA · mineA
- 7 -AAA angel · againA · heavenA · amenA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Seated one day at the Organ, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| I was weary and ill at ease, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And my fingers wandered idly | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Over the noisy keys. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I do not know what I was playing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Or what I was dreaming then; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But I struck one chord of music, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Like the sound of a great Amen. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| It flooded the crimson twilight | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/· |
| Like the close of an Angel's Psalm, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And it lay on my fevered spirit | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| With a touch of infinite calm. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| It quieted pain and sorrow, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Like love overcoming strife; | 7 | ··/˘·˘· |
| It seemed the harmonious echo | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| From our discordant life. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| It linked all perplexed meanings | 8 | ··˘·˘//˘ |
| Into one perfect peace, | 6 | ···˘/· |
| And trembled away into silence | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| As if it were loth to cease. | 7 | ······· |
| I have sought, but I seek it vainly, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That one lost chord divine, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Which came from the soul of the Organ, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And entered into mine. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| It may be that Death's bright angel | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Will speak in that chord again,-- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| It may be that only in Heaven | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| I shall hear that grand Amen. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
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.