Prelude
Daughter of Psyche, pledge of that wild nightWhen, pierced with pain and bitter-sweet delight,She knew her Love and saw her Lord depart,Then breathed her wonder and her woe forlornInto a single cry, and thou wast born!Thou flower of rapture and thou fruit of grief;Invisible enchantress of the heart;Mistress of charms that bring reliefTo sorrow, and to joy impartA heavenly tone that keeps it undefined,--Thou art the childOf Amor, and by right divineA throne of love is thine,Thou flower-folded, golden-girdled, star-crowned Queen,Whose bridal beauty mortal eyes have never seen!
Thou art the Angel of the pool that sleeps,While peace and joy lie hidden in its deeps,Waiting thy touch to make the waters rollIn healing murmurs round the weary soul.Ah, when wilt thou draw near,Thou messenger of mercy robed in song?My lonely heart has listened for thee long;And now I seem to hearAcross the crowded market-place of life,Thy measured foot-fall, ringing light and clearAbove unmeaning noises and unruly strife.In quiet cadence, sweet and slow,Serenely pacing to and fro,Thy far-off steps are magical and dear,--Ah, turn this way, come close and speak to me!From this dull bed of languor set my spirit free,And bid me rise, and let me walk awhile with thee.
Words in this poem
- psyche n.
- A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.
- 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,]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- enchantress n.
- A woman versed in magical arts; a sorceress; also, a woman who fascinates. [Cf. F. enchanteresse.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- 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
Prelude 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, Prelude, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/prelude-2.html, id L22969.
Form and metre
Prelude is 32 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABCCDBDB--EEFF nightA · delightA · departB · forlornC · bornC · griefD · heartB · reliefD · impartB · undefined · child · divineE · thineE · queenF · seenF
- 2 --AABCCBDBDEEBFFF sleeps · deeps · rollA · soulA · nearB · songC · longC · hearB · lifeD · clearB · strifeD · slowE · froE · dearB · meF · freeF · theeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Daughter of Psyche, pledge of that wild night | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| When, pierced with pain and bitter-sweet delight, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| She knew her Love and saw her Lord depart, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Then breathed her wonder and her woe forlorn | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Into a single cry, and thou wast born! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou flower of rapture and thou fruit of grief; | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Invisible enchantress of the heart; | 10 | ˘/˘˘˘/˘··· |
| Mistress of charms that bring relief | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| To sorrow, and to joy impart | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A heavenly tone that keeps it undefined,-- | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Thou art the child | 4 | ···· |
| Of Amor, and by right divine | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A throne of love is thine, | 6 | ······ |
| Thou flower-folded, golden-girdled, star-crowned Queen, | 11 | ·//˘/˘/˘··· |
| Whose bridal beauty mortal eyes have never seen! | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/· |
| Thou art the Angel of the pool that sleeps, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| While peace and joy lie hidden in its deeps, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Waiting thy touch to make the waters roll | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| In healing murmurs round the weary soul. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, when wilt thou draw near, | 6 | ······ |
| Thou messenger of mercy robed in song? | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| My lonely heart has listened for thee long; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And now I seem to hear | 6 | ······ |
| Across the crowded market-place of life, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| Thy measured foot-fall, ringing light and clear | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Above unmeaning noises and unruly strife. | 12 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| In quiet cadence, sweet and slow, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Serenely pacing to and fro, | 9 | ˘/˘˘/˘··· |
| Thy far-off steps are magical and dear,-- | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Ah, turn this way, come close and speak to me! | 10 | ·········· |
| From this dull bed of languor set my spirit free, | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| And bid me rise, and let me walk awhile with thee. | 12 | ········˘/·· |
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.