Bridal Birth
As when desire, long darkling, dawns, and firstThe mother looks upon the new-born child,Even so my Lady stood at gaze and smiledWhen her soul knew at length the Love it nursed.Born with her life, creature of poignant thirstAnd exquisite hunger, at her heart Love layQuickening in darkness, till a voice that dayCried on him, and the bonds of birth were burst.
Now, shielded in his wings, our faces yearnTogether, as his fullgrown feet now rangeThe grove, and his warm hands our couch prepare:Till to his song our bodiless souls in turnBe born his children, when Death's nuptial changeLeaves us for light the halo of his hair.
Words in this poem
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
- bodiless a.
- Having no body.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bridal Birth is in the public domain. This text is taken from The House of Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #3692; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Bridal Birth, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/bridal-birth.html, id L20921.
Form and metre
Bridal Birth is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABBAACCA firstA · childB · smiledB · nursedA · thirstA · layC · dayC · burstA
- 2 ABCABC yearnA · rangeB · prepareC · turnA · changeB · hairC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As when desire, long darkling, dawns, and first | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| The mother looks upon the new-born child, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Even so my Lady stood at gaze and smiled | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| When her soul knew at length the Love it nursed. | 10 | ·········· |
| Born with her life, creature of poignant thirst | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| And exquisite hunger, at her heart Love lay | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Quickening in darkness, till a voice that day | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Cried on him, and the bonds of birth were burst. | 10 | ·········· |
| Now, shielded in his wings, our faces yearn | 10 | ·/˘···//˘· |
| Together, as his fullgrown feet now range | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| The grove, and his warm hands our couch prepare: | 10 | ······/·˘/ |
| Till to his song our bodiless souls in turn | 11 | ····//˘˘··· |
| Be born his children, when Death's nuptial change | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Leaves us for light the halo of his hair. | 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.