To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina
THOUGH thou did'st hear the tempest from afar,And felt'st the horrors of the wat'ry war,To me unknown, yet on this peaceful shoreMethinks I hear the storm tumultuous roar,And how stern Boreas with impetuous handCompell'd the Nereids to usurp the land.Reluctant rose the daughters of the main,And slow ascending glided o'er the plain,Till AEolus in his rapid chariot droveIn gloomy grandeur from the vault above:Furious he comes. His winged sons obeyTheir frantic sire, and madden all the sea.The billows rave, the wind's fierce tyrant roars,And with his thund'ring terrors shakes the shores:Broken by waves the vessel's frame is rent,And strows with planks the wat'ry element.But thee, Maria, a kind Nereid's shieldPreserv'd from sinking, and thy form upheld:And sure some heav'nly oracle design'dAt that dread crisis to instruct thy mindThings of eternal consequence to weigh,And to thine heart just feelings to conveyOf things above, and of the future doom,And what the births of the dread world to come.From tossing seas I welcome thee to land."Resign her, Nereid," 'twas thy God's command.Thy spouse late buried, as thy fears conceiv'd,Again returns, thy fears are all reliev'd:Thy daughter blooming with superior graceAgain thou see'st, again thine arms embrace;O come, and joyful show thy spouse his heir,And what the blessings of maternal care!
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- boreas n.
- The north wind; -- usually a personification. [L. boreas, Gr. .]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- madden v. t.
- To make mad; to drive to madness; to craze; to excite violently with passion; to make very angry; to enrage.
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
- crisis n.
- The point of time when it is to be decided whether any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate; the decisive moment; the turning point. [L. crisis, Gr. Certain.]
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- maternal a.
- Of or pertaining to a mother; becoming to a mother; motherly; as, maternal love; maternal tenderness. [F. maternel, L. maternus, fr. mater mother. See Mother.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina 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, To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #409, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wheatley-poems/to-a-lady-on-her-remarkable-preservation-in-an-hurricane-in-north-carolina.html, id L26088.
Form and metre
To a Lady on her remarkable Preservation in an Hurricane in North-Carolina is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 -AAABBCC----DDEE--FFGG--HHIIJJKK afar · warA · shoreA · roarA · handB · landB · mainC · plainC · drove · above · obey · sea · roarsD · shoresD · rentE · elementE · shield · upheld · design'dF · mindF · weighG · conveyG · doom · come · landH · commandH · conceiv'dI · reliev'dI · graceJ · embraceJ · heirK · careK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THOUGH thou did'st hear the tempest from afar, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And felt'st the horrors of the wat'ry war, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To me unknown, yet on this peaceful shore | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Methinks I hear the storm tumultuous roar, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| And how stern Boreas with impetuous hand | 11 | ···/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| Compell'd the Nereids to usurp the land. | 10 | ˘/·····/·· |
| Reluctant rose the daughters of the main, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| And slow ascending glided o'er the plain, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Till AEolus in his rapid chariot drove | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| In gloomy grandeur from the vault above: | 10 | ·/˘˘/····· |
| Furious he comes. His winged sons obey | 10 | /˘˘·····˘/ |
| Their frantic sire, and madden all the sea. | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| The billows rave, the wind's fierce tyrant roars, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And with his thund'ring terrors shakes the shores: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Broken by waves the vessel's frame is rent, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| And strows with planks the wat'ry element. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| But thee, Maria, a kind Nereid's shield | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Preserv'd from sinking, and thy form upheld: | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| And sure some heav'nly oracle design'd | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| At that dread crisis to instruct thy mind | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Things of eternal consequence to weigh, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| And to thine heart just feelings to convey | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Of things above, and of the future doom, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And what the births of the dread world to come. | 10 | ·········· |
| From tossing seas I welcome thee to land. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| "Resign her, Nereid," 'twas thy God's command. | 11 | ˘/·/˘˘···˘/ |
| Thy spouse late buried, as thy fears conceiv'd, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Again returns, thy fears are all reliev'd: | 10 | ˘/˘/····˘/ |
| Thy daughter blooming with superior grace | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Again thou see'st, again thine arms embrace; | 10 | ˘/··˘/··˘/ |
| O come, and joyful show thy spouse his heir, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And what the blessings of maternal care! | 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.