A Mother's Birthday
Lord Jesus, Thou hast knownA mother's love and tender care:And Thou wilt hear,While for my ownMother most dearI make this birthday prayer.
Protect her life, I pray,Who gave the gift of life to me;And may she know,From day to day,The deepening glowOf joy that comes from Thee.
As once upon her breastFearless and well content I lay,So let her heart,On Thee at rest,Feel fear departAnd trouble fade away.
Ah, hold her by the hand,As once her hand held mine;And though she mayNot understandLife's winding way,Lead her in peace divine.
I cannot pay my debtFor all the love that she has given;But Thou, love's Lord,Wilt not forgetHer due reward,--Bless her in earth and heaven.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Mother's Birthday is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, A Mother's Birthday, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/a-mother-s-birthday.html, id L22838.
Form and metre
A Mother's Birthday is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCACB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 ABCACB knownA · careB · hearC · ownA · dearC · prayerB
- 2 ABCACB prayA · meB · knowC · dayA · glowC · theeB
- 3 ABCACB breastA · layB · heartC · restA · departC · awayB
- 4 ABCACB handA · mineB · mayC · understandA · wayC · divineB
- 5 A-BAB- debtA · given · lordB · forgetA · rewardB · heaven
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lord Jesus, Thou hast known | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A mother's love and tender care: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Thou wilt hear, | 4 | ···· |
| While for my own | 4 | ···· |
| Mother most dear | 4 | /˘·· |
| I make this birthday prayer. | 6 | ···/·· |
| Protect her life, I pray, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Who gave the gift of life to me; | 8 | ········ |
| And may she know, | 4 | ···· |
| From day to day, | 4 | ···· |
| The deepening glow | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Of joy that comes from Thee. | 6 | ······ |
| As once upon her breast | 6 | ······ |
| Fearless and well content I lay, | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| So let her heart, | 4 | ···· |
| On Thee at rest, | 4 | ···· |
| Feel fear depart | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And trouble fade away. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Ah, hold her by the hand, | 6 | ······ |
| As once her hand held mine; | 6 | ······ |
| And though she may | 4 | ···· |
| Not understand | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Life's winding way, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Lead her in peace divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I cannot pay my debt | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For all the love that she has given; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But Thou, love's Lord, | 4 | ···· |
| Wilt not forget | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Her due reward,-- | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Bless her in earth and heaven. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.