Her Heaven
If to grow old in Heaven is to grow young,(As the Seer saw and said,) then blest were heWith youth forevermore, whose heaven should beTrue Woman, she whom these weak notes have sung.Here and hereafter,--choir-strains of her tongue,--Sky-spaces of her eyes,--sweet signs that fleeAbout her soul's immediate sanctuary,--Were Paradise all uttermost worlds among.
The sunrise blooms and withers on the hillLike any hillflower; and the noblest trothDies here to dust. Yet shall Heaven's promise clotheEven yet those lovers who have cherished stillThis test for love:--in every kiss sealed fastTo feel the first kiss and forebode the last.
Words in this poem
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- uttermost a.
- Extreme; utmost; being; in the farthest, greatest, or highest degree; as, the uttermost extent or end. [From Utter, a.; cf. Utmost, and Outermost.]
- withers n.
- The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse. [Properly, the parts which resist the pull or strain in drawing a load; fr. OE. wither resistance, AS. withre, fr. wither against; akin to G. widerrist withers. ]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- 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,]
- forebode n.
- Prognostication; presage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Her Heaven 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, Her Heaven, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/her-heaven.html, id L20975.
Form and metre
Her Heaven is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 ABBAAB-A youngA · heB · beB · sungA · tongueA · fleeB · sanctuary · amongA
- 2 A--ABB hillA · troth · clothe · stillA · fastB · lastB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If to grow old in Heaven is to grow young, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| (As the Seer saw and said,) then blest were he | 10 | ·········· |
| With youth forevermore, whose heaven should be | 10 | ·······/·· |
| True Woman, she whom these weak notes have sung. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Here and hereafter,--choir-strains of her tongue,-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Sky-spaces of her eyes,--sweet signs that flee | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| About her soul's immediate sanctuary,-- | 11 | ····˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| Were Paradise all uttermost worlds among. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘··· |
| The sunrise blooms and withers on the hill | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| Like any hillflower; and the noblest troth | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Dies here to dust. Yet shall Heaven's promise clothe | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| Even yet those lovers who have cherished still | 10 | /··/˘··/˘· |
| This test for love:--in every kiss sealed fast | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To feel the first kiss and forebode the last. | 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.