Heart-affluence in discursive talk
Heart-affluence in discursive talkFrom household fountains never dry;The critic clearness of an eye,That saw thro’ all the Muses’ walk;
Seraphic intellect and forceTo seize and throw the doubts of man;Impassion’d logic, which outranThe hearer in its fiery course;
High nature amorous of the good,But touch’d with no ascetic gloom;And passion pure in snowy bloomThro’ all the years of April blood;
A love of freedom rarely felt,Of freedom in her regal seatOf England, not the schoolboy heat,The blind hysterics of the Celt;
And manhood fused with female graceIn such a sort, the child would twine,A trustful hand, unasked, in thine,And find his comfort in thy face;
All these have been, and thee mine eyesHave look’d on: if they look’d in vainMy shame is greater who remain,Nor let thy wisdom make me wise.
Words in this poem
- seraphic a.
- Of or pertaining to a seraph; becoming, or suitable to, a seraph; angelic; sublime; pure; refined. [Cf. F. séraphique.]
- ascetic a.
- Extremely rigid in self-denial and devotions; austere; severe.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- schoolboy n.
- A boy belonging to, or attending, a school.
- trustful a.
- Full of trust; trusting.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Heart-affluence in discursive talk is in the public domain. This text is taken from In memoriam, Project Gutenberg ebook #70950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, Heart-affluence in discursive talk, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-107.html, id L18467.
Form and metre
Heart-affluence in discursive talk is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 talkA · dryB · eyeB · walkA
- 2 ABBA forceA · manB · outranB · courseA
- 3 ABBA goodA · gloomB · bloomB · bloodA
- 4 ABBA feltA · seatB · heatB · celtA
- 5 ABBA graceA · twineB · thineB · faceA
- 6 ABBA eyesA · vainB · remainB · wiseA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heart-affluence in discursive talk | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| From household fountains never dry; | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| The critic clearness of an eye, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That saw thro’ all the Muses’ walk; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Seraphic intellect and force | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To seize and throw the doubts of man; | 8 | ········ |
| Impassion’d logic, which outran | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The hearer in its fiery course; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| High nature amorous of the good, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But touch’d with no ascetic gloom; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And passion pure in snowy bloom | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thro’ all the years of April blood; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A love of freedom rarely felt, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of freedom in her regal seat | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of England, not the schoolboy heat, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| The blind hysterics of the Celt; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And manhood fused with female grace | 8 | ·/···/·· |
| In such a sort, the child would twine, | 8 | ········ |
| A trustful hand, unasked, in thine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And find his comfort in thy face; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All these have been, and thee mine eyes | 8 | ········ |
| Have look’d on: if they look’d in vain | 8 | ········ |
| My shame is greater who remain, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Nor let thy wisdom make me wise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.