Over the Mountain
Like dreary prison wallsThe stern grey mountains rise,Until their topmost cragsTouch the far gloomy skies:One steep and narrow pathWinds up the mountain's crest,And from our valley leadsOut to the golden West.
I dwell here in content,Thankful for tranquil days;And yet, my eyes grow dim,As still I gaze and gazeUpon that mountain pass,That leads--or so it seems--To some far happy land,Known in a world of dreams.
And as I watch that pathOver the distant hill,A foolish longing comesMy heart and soul to fill,A painful, strange desireTo break some weary bond,A vague unuttered wishFor what might lie beyond!
In that far world unknown,Over that distant hill,May dwell the loved and lost,Lost--yet beloved still;I have a yearning hope,Half longing, and half pain,That by that mountain passThey may return again.
Space may keep friends apart,Death has a mighty thrall;There is another gulfHarder to cross than all;Yet watching that far road,My heart beats full and fast--If they should come once more,If they should come at last!
See, down the mountain sideThe silver vapours creep;They hide the rocky cliffs.They hide the craggy steep,They hide the narrow pathThat comes across the hill--Oh, foolish longing, cease,Oh, beating Heart, be still!
Words in this poem
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Over the Mountain 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, Over the Mountain, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/over-the-mountain.html, id L21758.
Form and metre
Over the Mountain is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-B-B walls · riseA · crags · skiesA · path · crestB · leads · westB
- 2 -A-A-B-B content · daysA · dim · gazeA · pass · seemsB · land · dreamsB
- 3 -A-A-B-B path · hillA · comes · fillA · desire · bondB · wish · beyondB
- 4 -A-A-B-B unknown · hillA · lost · stillA · hope · painB · pass · againB
- 5 -A-A-B-B apart · thrallA · gulf · allA · road · fastB · more · lastB
- 6 -A-A-B-B side · creepA · cliffs · steepA · path · hillB · cease · stillB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Like dreary prison walls | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The stern grey mountains rise, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Until their topmost crags | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Touch the far gloomy skies: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| One steep and narrow path | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Winds up the mountain's crest, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And from our valley leads | 6 | ··//˘· |
| Out to the golden West. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I dwell here in content, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Thankful for tranquil days; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| And yet, my eyes grow dim, | 6 | ······ |
| As still I gaze and gaze | 6 | ······ |
| Upon that mountain pass, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That leads--or so it seems-- | 6 | ······ |
| To some far happy land, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Known in a world of dreams. | 6 | ······ |
| And as I watch that path | 6 | ······ |
| Over the distant hill, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A foolish longing comes | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| My heart and soul to fill, | 6 | ······ |
| A painful, strange desire | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| To break some weary bond, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A vague unuttered wish | 6 | ······ |
| For what might lie beyond! | 6 | ······ |
| In that far world unknown, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Over that distant hill, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| May dwell the loved and lost, | 6 | ······ |
| Lost--yet beloved still; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| I have a yearning hope, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Half longing, and half pain, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That by that mountain pass | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They may return again. | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| Space may keep friends apart, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Death has a mighty thrall; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| There is another gulf | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Harder to cross than all; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Yet watching that far road, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My heart beats full and fast-- | 6 | ······ |
| If they should come once more, | 6 | ······ |
| If they should come at last! | 6 | ······ |
| See, down the mountain side | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The silver vapours creep; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| They hide the rocky cliffs. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They hide the craggy steep, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They hide the narrow path | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That comes across the hill-- | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Oh, foolish longing, cease, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Oh, beating Heart, be still! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.