Her eyes are homes of silent prayer
Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,Nor other thought her mind admitsBut, he was dead, and there he sits,And he that brought him back is there.
Then one deep love doth supersedeAll other, when her ardent gazeRoves from the living brother’s face.And rests upon the Life indeed.
All subtle thought, all curious fears,Borne down by gladness so complete,She bows, she bathes the Saviour’s feetWith costly spikenard and with tears.
Thrice blest whose lives are faithful prayers,Whose loves in higher love endure;What souls possess themselves so pure,Or is there blessedness like theirs?
Words in this poem
- supersede v. t.
- To come, or be placed, in the room of; to replace. [L. supersedere, supersessum, to sit above, be superior to, forbear, omit; super above + sedere to sit: cf. F. superséder. See Sit, and cf. Surcease.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Her eyes are homes of silent prayer 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, Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-32.html, id L18392.
Form and metre
Her eyes are homes of silent prayer is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 25% 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 prayerA · admitsB · sitsB · thereA
- 2 ABBA supersedeA · gazeB · faceB · indeedA
- 3 ABBA fearsA · completeB · feetB · tearsA
- 4 ABBA prayersA · endureB · pureB · theirsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Her eyes are homes of silent prayer, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor other thought her mind admits | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| But, he was dead, and there he sits, | 8 | ········ |
| And he that brought him back is there. | 8 | ········ |
| Then one deep love doth supersede | 8 | ······˘/ |
| All other, when her ardent gaze | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Roves from the living brother’s face. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And rests upon the Life indeed. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| All subtle thought, all curious fears, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Borne down by gladness so complete, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| She bows, she bathes the Saviour’s feet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With costly spikenard and with tears. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thrice blest whose lives are faithful prayers, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whose loves in higher love endure; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| What souls possess themselves so pure, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Or is there blessedness like theirs? | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
On this poem
Her whole spirit is then so "borne down by gladness," that
"She bows, she bathes the Saviour's feet With costly spikenard and with tears."
No lives are so blessed as those which consist of "faithful prayers:" no attachments so enduring as those which are based on the higher love of God.
But are there any souls so pure as to have reached this higher range of feeling; or, if there be, what blessedness can equal theirs?
Notes from the edition 5
Section introductions from Alfred Gatty, <i>A Key to Lord Tennyson's “In Memoriam”</i>, 4th ed. (George Bell & Sons, 1900; Project Gutenberg #36637). Line notes credited “[Tennyson]” are Tennyson's own notes; “[Hallam Tennyson]” marks a note that is wholly his son and editor's own explanatory bracket, not the poet's own words; “[Emily Tennyson]” marks the few notes signed by his wife. All three are from <i>The Works of Tennyson, Annotated by the Author</i>, ed. Hallam, Lord Tennyson, vol. 3 (Macmillan, 1908; Internet Archive worksoftennysona03tennuoft). Line notes credited “[Bradley]” are A. C. Bradley's, from <i>A Commentary on Tennyson's In Memoriam</i> (Macmillan, 1910; Internet Archive commentaryontenn00braduoft). All these number sections by the final, 131-section text, not the site's own 1850 numbering: from final XL to LVIII subtract one section number, from LX on subtract two, to reach the site's; the site prints the 129-section first edition of 1850 (see the work's own blurb), so two of the final text's numbered sections have no home here and are skipped.
- Stanza 1, line 1 'prayer': the word here, and in 13 and xxxin. 5, seems to mean ' adoration.' [Bradley]
- Stanza 1, line 3 ' Except the thought " He was dead," ' etc. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 1 * supersede ': the poet's thought is more fully expressed by 14. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 4 Cf. John, xi. 25, 'Jesus said unto her, I am the resur- rection and the life ' (G. A. C.). [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 3 'so pure ': so pure as these. [Bradley]
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.