Tranquil Habit
Dear tranquil Habit, with her silent hands,Doth heal our deepest wounds from day to dayWith cooling, soothing oil, and firmly layAround the broken heart her gentle bands.
Her nursing is as calm as Nature's care;She doth not weep with us; yet none the lessHer quiet fingers weave forgetfulness,--We fall asleep in peace when she is there.
Upon the mirror of the mind her breathIs like a cloud, to hide the fading traceOf that dear smile, of that remembered face,Whose presence were the joy and pang of death.
And he who clings to sorrow overmuch,Weeping for withered grief, has cause to bless,More than all cries of pity and distress,--Dear tranquil Habit, thy consoling touch!
Words in this poem
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- consoling a.
- Adapted to console or comfort; cheering; as, this is consoling news.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tranquil Habit 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, Tranquil Habit, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/tranquil-habit.html, id L22829.
Form and metre
Tranquil Habit is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABBA handsA · dayB · layB · bandsA
- 2 ABBA careA · lessB · forgetfulnessB · thereA
- 3 ABBA breathA · traceB · faceB · deathA
- 4 ABBA overmuchA · blessB · distressB · touchA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dear tranquil Habit, with her silent hands, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Doth heal our deepest wounds from day to day | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| With cooling, soothing oil, and firmly lay | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Around the broken heart her gentle bands. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Her nursing is as calm as Nature's care; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| She doth not weep with us; yet none the less | 10 | ·········· |
| Her quiet fingers weave forgetfulness,-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| We fall asleep in peace when she is there. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Upon the mirror of the mind her breath | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Is like a cloud, to hide the fading trace | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of that dear smile, of that remembered face, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Whose presence were the joy and pang of death. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And he who clings to sorrow overmuch, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Weeping for withered grief, has cause to bless, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| More than all cries of pity and distress,-- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Dear tranquil Habit, thy consoling touch! | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
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.