An Hymn to the Evening
SOON as the sun forsook the eastern mainThe pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing,Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,And through the air their mingled music floats.Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are spread!But the west glories in the deepest red:So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow,The living temples of our God below!Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light,And draws the sable curtains of the night,Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd;So shall the labours of the day beginMore pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.
Words in this poem
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- purl v. t.
- To decorate with fringe or embroidery. [Contr. fr. purfile, purfle. See Purfle.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- sceptre n.
- A staff or baton borne by a sovereign, as a ceremonial badge or emblem of authority; a royal mace. [F. sceptre, L. sceptrum, from Gr. shaft. See Shaft, and cf. Scape a stem, shaft.]
- aurora n.
- The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises. [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. ushas, and E. east.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Hymn to the Evening is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems on various subjects, religious and moral, Project Gutenberg ebook #409; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Phillis Wheatley, An Hymn to the Evening, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #409, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wheatley-poems/an-hymn-to-the-evening.html, id L25928.
Form and metre
An Hymn to the Evening is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII mainA · plainA · wingB · springB · notesC · floatsC · spreadD · redD · glowE · belowE · lightF · nightF · mindG · refin'dG · beginH · sinH · eyesI · riseI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SOON as the sun forsook the eastern main | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing, | 10 | ˘/˘˘/··/˘· |
| Exhales the incense of the blooming spring. | 10 | ˘/·/···/˘· |
| Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And through the air their mingled music floats. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are spread! | 11 | ·····/˘˘··· |
| But the west glories in the deepest red: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow, | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| The living temples of our God below! | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/··· |
| Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light, | 10 | ·········· |
| And draws the sable curtains of the night, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So shall the labours of the day begin | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise. | 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.