Honor to Woman
Honor to woman! To her it is givenTo garden the earth with the roses of heaven!All blessed, she linketh the loves in their choirIn the veil of the graces her beauty concealing,She tends on each altar that's hallowed to feeling,And keeps ever-living the fire!
From the bounds of truth careering,Man's strong spirit wildly sweeps,With each hasty impulse veeringDown to passion's troubled deeps.And his heart, contented never,Greeds to grapple with the far,Chasing his own dream forever,On through many a distant star!But woman with looks that can charm and enchain,Lureth back at her beck the wild truant again,By the spell of her presence beguiled--In the home of the mother her modest abode,And modest the manners by Nature bestowedOn Nature's most exquisite child!
Bruised and worn, but fiercely breasting,Foe to foe, the angry strife;Man, the wild one, never resting,Roams along the troubled life;What he planneth, still pursuing;Vainly as the Hydra bleeds,Crest the severed crest renewing--Wish to withered wish succeeds.
But woman at peace with all being, reposes,And seeks from the moment to gather the roses--Whose sweets to her culture belong.Ah! richer than he, though his soul reigneth o'erThe mighty dominion of genius and lore,And the infinite circle of song.
Strong, and proud, and self-depending,Man's cold bosom beats alone;Heart with heart divinely blending,In the love that gods have known,Soul's sweet interchange of feeling,Melting tears--he never knows,Each hard sense the hard one steeling,Arms against a world of foes.
Alive, as the wind-harp, how lightly soeverIf wooed by the zephyr, to music will quiver,Is woman to hope and to fear;All, tender one! still at the shadow of grieving,How quiver the chords--how thy bosom is heaving--How trembles thy glance through the tear!
Man's dominion, war and labor;Might to right the statue gave;Laws are in the Scythian's sabre;Where the Mede reigned--see the slave!Peace and meekness grimly routing,Prowls the war-lust, rude and wild;Eris rages, hoarsely shouting,Where the vanished graces smiled.
But woman, the soft one, persuasively prayeth--Of the life that she charmeth, the sceptre she swayeth;She lulls, as she looks from above,The discord whose bell for its victims is gaping,And blending awhile the forever escaping,Whispers hate to the image of love!
Words in this poem
- enchain v. t.
- To bind with a chain; to hold in chains. [F. enchaîner; pref. en- (L. in) chaîne chain. See Chain, and cf. Incatenation.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- blending n.
- The act of mingling.
- steeling n.
- The process of pointing, edging, or overlaying with steel; specifically, acierage. See Steel, v.
- zephyr n.
- The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
- sabre n.
- A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- grimly a.
- Grim; hideous; stern.
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- hoarsely adv.
- With a harsh, grating sound or voice.
- sceptre n.
- A staff or baton borne by a sovereign, as a ceremonial badge or emblem of authority; a royal mace. [F. sceptre, L. sceptrum, from Gr. shaft. See Shaft, and cf. Scape a stem, shaft.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Honor to Woman is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Schiller — Third period, Project Gutenberg ebook #6796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Friedrich Schiller, Honor to Woman, in The Poems of Schiller: Third Period (1805), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/schiller-third-period/honor-to-woman.html, id L21860.
Form and metre
Honor to Woman is 62 lines in 8 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 3 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%).
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 --ABBA given · heaven · choirA · concealingB · feelingB · fireA
- 2 A-A-BCBCDDEFFE careeringA · sweeps · veeringA · deeps · neverB · farC · foreverB · starC · enchainD · againD · beguiledE · abodeF · bestowedF · childE
- 3 ABABCDCD breastingA · strifeB · restingA · lifeB · pursuingC · bleedsD · renewingC · succeedsD
- 4 AAB--B reposesA · rosesA · belongB · o'er · lore · songB
- 5 ABABCDCD dependingA · aloneB · blendingA · knownB · feelingC · knowsD · steelingC · foesD
- 6 --ABBA soever · quiver · fearA · grievingB · heavingB · tearA
- 7 ABABCDCD laborA · gaveB · sabreA · slaveB · routingC · wildD · shoutingC · smiledD
- 8 AABCCB prayethA · swayethA · aboveB · gapingC · escapingC · loveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Honor to woman! To her it is given | 10 | /˘·/˘····/ |
| To garden the earth with the roses of heaven! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·/ |
| All blessed, she linketh the loves in their choir | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| In the veil of the graces her beauty concealing, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| She tends on each altar that's hallowed to feeling, | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| And keeps ever-living the fire! | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| From the bounds of truth careering, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Man's strong spirit wildly sweeps, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| With each hasty impulse veering | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Down to passion's troubled deeps. | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| And his heart, contented never, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Greeds to grapple with the far, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Chasing his own dream forever, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| On through many a distant star! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| But woman with looks that can charm and enchain, | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| Lureth back at her beck the wild truant again, | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| By the spell of her presence beguiled-- | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| In the home of the mother her modest abode, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| And modest the manners by Nature bestowed | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| On Nature's most exquisite child! | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Bruised and worn, but fiercely breasting, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Foe to foe, the angry strife; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Man, the wild one, never resting, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Roams along the troubled life; | 8 | ·˘/·/˘˘· |
| What he planneth, still pursuing; | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Vainly as the Hydra bleeds, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Crest the severed crest renewing-- | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Wish to withered wish succeeds. | 8 | ··/˘˘·˘/ |
| But woman at peace with all being, reposes, | 11 | ·/˘····//·˘ |
| And seeks from the moment to gather the roses-- | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Whose sweets to her culture belong. | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| Ah! richer than he, though his soul reigneth o'er | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| The mighty dominion of genius and lore, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| And the infinite circle of song. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Strong, and proud, and self-depending, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Man's cold bosom beats alone; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Heart with heart divinely blending, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| In the love that gods have known, | 7 | ······· |
| Soul's sweet interchange of feeling, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Melting tears--he never knows, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Each hard sense the hard one steeling, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Arms against a world of foes. | 7 | ······· |
| Alive, as the wind-harp, how lightly soever | 12 | ˘/·····/˘˘/˘ |
| If wooed by the zephyr, to music will quiver, | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Is woman to hope and to fear; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All, tender one! still at the shadow of grieving, | 12 | ·/˘····/··/˘ |
| How quiver the chords--how thy bosom is heaving-- | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| How trembles thy glance through the tear! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Man's dominion, war and labor; | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Might to right the statue gave; | 7 | ····/·· |
| Laws are in the Scythian's sabre; | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Where the Mede reigned--see the slave! | 8 | ····˘··· |
| Peace and meekness grimly routing, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Prowls the war-lust, rude and wild; | 7 | ······· |
| Eris rages, hoarsely shouting, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Where the vanished graces smiled. | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| But woman, the soft one, persuasively prayeth-- | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| Of the life that she charmeth, the sceptre she swayeth; | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| She lulls, as she looks from above, | 8 | ········ |
| The discord whose bell for its victims is gaping, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| And blending awhile the forever escaping, | 12 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Whispers hate to the image of love! | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
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.