Laurel · Helen Maria Williams · Poems (1786)

An Elegy

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 128 lines · from Poems (1786)

As roam'd a pilgrim o'er the mountain drear,On whose lone verge the foaming billows roar;The wail of hopeless sorrow pierc'd his ear,And swell'd at distance on the sounding shore.

The mourner breath'd her deep complaint to night,Her moan she mingled with the rapid blast;That bar'd her bosom in its wasting flight,And o'er the earth her scatter'd tresses cast!

"Ye winds, she cried, still heave the lab'ring deep,"The mountain shake, the howling forest rend;"Still dash the shiv'ring fragment from the steep,"Nor for a wretch like me the storm suspend.

"Ah, wherefore wish the rising storm to spare?"Ah, why implore the raging winds to save?"What refuge can the breast where lives despair"Desire but death? what shelter but the grave?

"To me congenial is the gloom of night,"The savage howlings that infest the air;"I unappall'd can view the fatal light,"That flashes from the pointed lightning's glare.

"And yet erewhile, if night her shadows threw"O'er the known woodlands of my native vale;"Fancy in visions wild the landscape drew,"And swelled with boding sounds the whisp'ring gale.

"But deep despair has arm'd my timid soul,"And agony has numb'd the throb of fear;"Taught a weak heart its terrors to controul,"And more to court than shun the danger near.

"Yet could I welcome the return of light,"Its glim'ring beam might guide my searching eye,"The sacred spot might then emerge from night,"On which a lover's bleeding relicks lie!

"For sure 'twas here, as late a shepherd stray'd"Bewilder'd, o'er the mountain's dreary bound,"Close to the pointed cliff he saw him laid,"Where heav'd the waters of the deep around.

"Alas, no longer could his heart endure"The woes that heart was doom'd for me to prove:"He sought for death--for death the only cure,"That fate can give to vain, and hopeless love."

"My sire, unjust, while passion swell'd his breast,"From the lov'd Alfred his Euphelia tore;"Mock'd the keen sorrows that my soul opprest,"And bade me, vainly bade me love no more!

"He told me love, was like yon' troubled deep,"Whose restless billows never know repose;"Are wildly dash'd upon the rocky steep,"And tremble to the lightest breeze that blows!

"From these rude storms remote, her gentle balm,"Dear to the suff'ring spirit, peace applies"--Peace! 'tis th' oblivious lake's detested calmWhose dull, slow waters never fall or rise.

"Ah, what avails a parent's stern command,"The force of conq'ring passion to subdue?"And wherefore seek to rend, with cruel hand,"The ties enchanted love so fondly drew!

"Yet I could see my Alfred's fix'd despair,"And aw'd by filial fear conceal my woes;"My coward heart cou'd separation bear,"And check the struggling anguish as it rose!

"'Twas guilt the barb'rous mandate to obey,"Which bade no parting sigh my bosom move,"Victim of duty's unrelenting sway,"I seemed a traitor, while a slave to love!"

"Let her, who seal'd a lover's fate, endure"The sharpest pressure of deserv'd distress;"'Twere added perfidy to seek a cure,"And stain'd with falsehood, wish to suffer less.

"For wretches doom'd in other griefs to pine,"Oft' will benignant hope her ray impart;"And pity oft' from her celestial shrine,"Drop a warm tear upon the fainting heart.

"But o'er the lasting gloom of love's despair,"Can hope's bright ray its cheering visions shed?"Can pity sooth the woes that breast must bear,"Which vainly loves, and vainly mourns the dead!"

"No! ling'ring still, and still prolong'd, the moan"Shall never pause, till heaves my latest breath,"Till memory's distracting pang is flown,"And all my sorrows shall be hush'd in death.

"And death is pitying come, whose hand shall tear"From this afflicted heart the sense of pain;"My fainting limbs refuse their load to bear,"And life no longer will my form sustain.

"Yet once did health's enliv'ning glow adorn,"And pleasure shed for me her loveliest ray,"Pure as the gentle star that gilds the morn,"And constant as the equal light of day!"

"Now those lost pleasures trac'd by memory, seem"Like yon' illusive meteor's glancing light;"That o'er the darkness threw its instant gleam,"Then sunk, and vanish'd in the depth of night.

"My native vale! and thou delightful bower!"Scenes to my hopeless love for ever dear;"Sweet vale, for whom the morning wak'd her flow'r,"Gay bower, for whom the evening pour'd her tear.

"I ask no more to see your beauties rise--"Ye rocks and mountains, on whose rugged breast"My Alfred, murder'd by Euphelia, lies,"In your deep solitudes oh let me rest!"

"And sure the dawning ray that lights the steep,"And slowly wanders o'er the purple wave;"Will shew me where his sacred relics sleep,"Will lead his mourner to her destin'd grave.--

O'er the high precipice unmov'd she bent,A fearful path the beams of morning shew,The pilgrim reach'd with toil the rude ascent,And saw her brooding o'er the deep below.

"Euphelia stay! he cried, thy Alfred calls--"Oh stay, my love! in sorrow yet more dear,"I come!"--In vain the soothing accent falls,Alas, it reach'd not her distracted ear.

"Ah, what avails, she said, that morning rose?"With fruitless pain I seek his mould'ring clay;"Vain search! to fill the measure of my woes,"The foaming surge has wash'd his corse away.

"This cruel agony why longer bear?"Death, death alone can all my pangs remove;"Kind death will banish from my heart despair,"And when I live again--I live to love!"--

She said, and plung'd into the awful deep--He saw her meet the fury of the wave;He frantic saw! and darting to the steepWith desp'rate anguish, sought her wat'ry grave.

He clasp'd her dying form, he shar'd her sighs,He check'd the billow rushing on her breast;She felt his dear embrace--her closing eyesWere fix'd on Alfred, and her death was blest.--

Words in this poem 34

drear n.: Sadness; dismalness.
lone n.: A lane. See Loanin.
mourner n.: One who mourns or is grieved at any misfortune, as the death of a friend.
wherefore adv.: For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
glare v. i.: To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
erewhile adv.: Some time ago; a little while before; heretofore.
vale n.: A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
boding a.: Foreshowing; presaging; ominous.
throb v. i.: To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
dreary a.: Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
tore n.: The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
bade: A form of the pat tense of Bid.
oblivious a.: Promoting oblivion; causing forgetfulness. [L.obliviosus: cf.F. oblivieux.]
enchanted a.: Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
fondly adv.: Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
filial a.: Of or pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming to a child in relation to his parents; as, filial obedience. [L. filialis, fr. filius son, filia daughter; akin to e. female, feminine. Cf. Fitz.]
unrelenting a.: Not relenting; unyielding; rigid; hard; stern; cruel.
perfidy n.: The act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow, or of trust reposed; faithlessness; teachery. [L. perfidia, fr. L. perfidus faithless; per (cf. Skr. para away) + fides faith: cf. F. perfidie. See Faith.]
benignant a.: Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
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]
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,]
heaves n.: A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
distracting a.: Tending or serving to distract.
flown a.: Flushed, inflated.
pitying a.: Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
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.]
illusive a.: Deceiving by false show; deceitful; deceptive; false; illusory; unreal. [See Illude.]
glancing a.: Shooting, as light.
shew n.: Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
precipice n.: A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
fruitless a.: Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
corse n.: A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
billow n.: A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

An Elegy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems (1786), Volume I., Project Gutenberg ebook #11054; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Helen Maria Williams, An Elegy, in Poems (1786) (1786), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #11054, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-helen-poems/an-elegy.html, id L10041.

Form and metre

An Elegy is 128 lines in 32 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 30 of its 32 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

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 ABAB drear^A · roar^B · ear^A · shore^B
2 ABAB night^A · blast^B · flight^A · cast^B
3 ABAB deep^A · rend^B · steep^A · suspend^B
4 ABAB spare^A · save^B · despair^A · grave^B
5 ABAB night^A · air^B · light^A · glare^B
6 ABAB threw^A · vale^B · drew^A · gale^B
7 ABAB soul^A · fear^B · controul^A · near^B
8 ABAB light^A · eye^B · night^A · lie^B
9 ABAB stray'd^A · bound^B · laid^A · around^B
10 ABAB endure^A · prove^B · cure^A · love^B
11 ABAB breast^A · tore^B · opprest^A · more^B
12 ABAB deep^A · repose^B · steep^A · blows^B
13 ABAB balm^A · applies^B · calm^A · rise^B
14 ABAB command^A · subdue^B · hand^A · drew^B
15 ABAB despair^A · woes^B · bear^A · rose^B
16 ABAB obey^A · move^B · sway^A · love^B
17 ABAB endure^A · distress^B · cure^A · less^B
18 ABAB pine^A · impart^B · shrine^A · heart^B
19 ABAB despair^A · shed^B · bear^A · dead^B
20 ABAB moan^A · breath^B · flown^A · death^B
21 ABAB tear^A · pain^B · bear^A · sustain^B
22 ABAB adorn^A · ray^B · morn^A · day^B
23 ABAB seem^A · light^B · gleam^A · night^B
24 -A-A bower · dear^A · flow'r · tear^A
25 ABAB rise^A · breast^B · lies^A · rest^B
26 ABAB steep^A · wave^B · sleep^A · grave^B
27 A-A- bent^A · shew · ascent^A · below
28 ABAB calls^A · dear^B · falls^A · ear^B
29 ABAB rose^A · clay^B · woes^A · away^B
30 ABAB bear^A · remove^B · despair^A · love^B
31 ABAB deep^A · wave^B · steep^A · grave^B
32 ABAB sighs^A · breast^B · eyes^A · blest^B

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
As roam'd a pilgrim o'er the mountain drear,	10	···/˘··/˘·
On whose lone verge the foaming billows roar;	10	·····/˘/˘·
The wail of hopeless sorrow pierc'd his ear,	10	···/˘/˘···
And swell'd at distance on the sounding shore.	10	···/˘··/˘·
The mourner breath'd her deep complaint to night,	10	·/˘···˘/··
Her moan she mingled with the rapid blast;	10	···/˘··/˘·
That bar'd her bosom in its wasting flight,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And o'er the earth her scatter'd tresses cast!	10	·····/˘/˘·
"Ye winds, she cried, still heave the lab'ring deep,	10	··········
"The mountain shake, the howling forest rend;	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
"Still dash the shiv'ring fragment from the steep,	10	·····/˘···
"Nor for a wretch like me the storm suspend.	10	········˘/
"Ah, wherefore wish the rising storm to spare?	10	·/˘··/˘···
"Ah, why implore the raging winds to save?	10	··˘/·/˘···
"What refuge can the breast where lives despair	10	·/˘·····˘/
"Desire but death? what shelter but the grave?	10	˘/···/˘···
"To me congenial is the gloom of night,	10	··˘/˘·····
"The savage howlings that infest the air;	10	·/˘/˘·˘/··
"I unappall'd can view the fatal light,	10	·······/˘·
"That flashes from the pointed lightning's glare.	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
"And yet erewhile, if night her shadows threw	12	·········/··
"O'er the known woodlands of my native vale;	10	···/···/˘·
"Fancy in visions wild the landscape drew,	10	/˘·/˘··/··
"And swelled with boding sounds the whisp'ring gale.	10	···/˘·····
"But deep despair has arm'd my timid soul,	10	··˘/···/˘·
"And agony has numb'd the throb of fear;	10	·/˘˘······
"Taught a weak heart its terrors to controul,	10	·····/˘···
"And more to court than shun the danger near.	10	·······/˘·
"Yet could I welcome the return of light,	10	···/˘·˘/··
"Its glim'ring beam might guide my searching eye,	10	·······/˘·
"The sacred spot might then emerge from night,	10	·/˘···˘/··
"On which a lover's bleeding relicks lie!	10	···/˘/˘···
"For sure 'twas here, as late a shepherd stray'd	10	·······/˘·
"Bewilder'd, o'er the mountain's dreary bound,	10	˘/˘··/˘/˘·
"Close to the pointed cliff he saw him laid,	10	···/˘·····
"Where heav'd the waters of the deep around.	10	···/˘·····
"Alas, no longer could his heart endure	10	˘/·/˘···˘/
"The woes that heart was doom'd for me to prove:	10	··········
"He sought for death--for death the only cure,	10	·······/˘·
"That fate can give to vain, and hopeless love."	10	·······/˘·
"My sire, unjust, while passion swell'd his breast,	10	·/˘/·/˘···
"From the lov'd Alfred his Euphelia tore;	10	···/˘·····
"Mock'd the keen sorrows that my soul opprest,	11	···/˘···/˘˘
"And bade me, vainly bade me love no more!	10	···/˘·····
"He told me love, was like yon' troubled deep,	10	·······/˘·
"Whose restless billows never know repose;	10	·/˘/˘/˘·˘/
"Are wildly dash'd upon the rocky steep,	10	·/˘····/˘·
"And tremble to the lightest breeze that blows!	10	·/˘··/˘···
"From these rude storms remote, her gentle balm,	10	····˘/·/˘·
"Dear to the suff'ring spirit, peace applies"--	10	·····/˘·˘/
Peace! 'tis th' oblivious lake's detested calm	10	··˘/˘·˘/˘·
Whose dull, slow waters never fall or rise.	10	···/˘/˘···
"Ah, what avails a parent's stern command,	10	··˘/·/˘·˘/
"The force of conq'ring passion to subdue?	10	·····/˘·˘/
"And wherefore seek to rend, with cruel hand,	10	·/˘····/˘·
"The ties enchanted love so fondly drew!	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
"Yet I could see my Alfred's fix'd despair,	10	·····/˘·˘/
"And aw'd by filial fear conceal my woes;	10	···/˘·˘/··
"My coward heart cou'd separation bear,	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
"And check the struggling anguish as it rose!	10	···/˘/˘···
"'Twas guilt the barb'rous mandate to obey,	10	·····/··˘/
"Which bade no parting sigh my bosom move,	10	···/˘··/˘·
"Victim of duty's unrelenting sway,	10	/˘·/˘·˘/˘·
"I seemed a traitor, while a slave to love!"	10	···/˘·····
"Let her, who seal'd a lover's fate, endure	10	·····/˘·˘/
"The sharpest pressure of deserv'd distress;	10	·/˘/˘·˘/˘/
"'Twere added perfidy to seek a cure,	10	·/˘/˘˘····
"And stain'd with falsehood, wish to suffer less.	10	···/···/˘·
"For wretches doom'd in other griefs to pine,	10	·····/˘···
"Oft' will benignant hope her ray impart;	10	··˘/˘···˘/
"And pity oft' from her celestial shrine,	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
"Drop a warm tear upon the fainting heart.	10	·······/˘·
"But o'er the lasting gloom of love's despair,	10	···/˘···˘/
"Can hope's bright ray its cheering visions shed?	10	·····/˘/˘·
"Can pity sooth the woes that breast must bear,	10	·/˘·······
"Which vainly loves, and vainly mourns the dead!"	10	·/˘··/˘···
"No! ling'ring still, and still prolong'd, the moan	10	······˘/··
"Shall never pause, till heaves my latest breath,	10	·/˘····/˘·
"Till memory's distracting pang is flown,	10	·/˘˘˘/˘···
"And all my sorrows shall be hush'd in death.	10	···/˘·····
"And death is pitying come, whose hand shall tear	10	···/˘·····
"From this afflicted heart the sense of pain;	10	··˘/˘·····
"My fainting limbs refuse their load to bear,	10	·/˘·˘/····
"And life no longer will my form sustain.	10	···/˘···˘/
"Yet once did health's enliv'ning glow adorn,	10	········˘/
"And pleasure shed for me her loveliest ray,	11	·/˘········
"Pure as the gentle star that gilds the morn,	10	···/˘·····
"And constant as the equal light of day!"	10	·/˘··/˘···
"Now those lost pleasures trac'd by memory, seem	10	···/˘··/˘·
"Like yon' illusive meteor's glancing light;	10	··˘/˘/˘/˘·
"That o'er the darkness threw its instant gleam,	10	···/˘··/˘·
"Then sunk, and vanish'd in the depth of night.	10	···/˘·····
"My native vale! and thou delightful bower!	11	·/˘···˘/˘/˘
"Scenes to my hopeless love for ever dear;	10	···/˘··/˘·
"Sweet vale, for whom the morning wak'd her flow'r,	10	·····/˘···
"Gay bower, for whom the evening pour'd her tear.	10	·/···/˘···
"I ask no more to see your beauties rise--	10	·······/˘·
"Ye rocks and mountains, on whose rugged breast	10	···/˘··/˘·
"My Alfred, murder'd by Euphelia, lies,	10	·/˘/˘·····
"In your deep solitudes oh let me rest!"	10	···/˘·····
"And sure the dawning ray that lights the steep,	10	···/˘·····
"And slowly wanders o'er the purple wave;	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
"Will shew me where his sacred relics sleep,	10	·····/˘/˘·
"Will lead his mourner to her destin'd grave.--	10	···/˘··/˘·
O'er the high precipice unmov'd she bent,	10	···/˘˘˘/··
A fearful path the beams of morning shew,	10	·/˘····/˘·
The pilgrim reach'd with toil the rude ascent,	10	·/˘·····˘/
And saw her brooding o'er the deep below.	10	···/˘·····
"Euphelia stay! he cried, thy Alfred calls--	10	·······/˘·
"Oh stay, my love! in sorrow yet more dear,	10	·····/˘···
"I come!"--In vain the soothing accent falls,	10	·····/˘/··
Alas, it reach'd not her distracted ear.	10	˘/····˘/˘·
"Ah, what avails, she said, that morning rose?	10	··˘/···/˘·
"With fruitless pain I seek his mould'ring clay;	10	·/˘·······
"Vain search! to fill the measure of my woes,	10	·····/˘···
"The foaming surge has wash'd his corse away.	10	·/˘·····˘/
"This cruel agony why longer bear?	10	·/˘/˘˘·/˘·
"Death, death alone can all my pangs remove;	10	··˘/····˘/
"Kind death will banish from my heart despair,	10	···/˘···˘/
"And when I live again--I live to love!"--	10	····˘/····
She said, and plung'd into the awful deep--	10	·······/˘·
He saw her meet the fury of the wave;	10	·····/˘···
He frantic saw! and darting to the steep	10	·/˘··/˘···
With desp'rate anguish, sought her wat'ry grave.	10	···/˘··/˘·
He clasp'd her dying form, he shar'd her sighs,	10	···/˘·····
He check'd the billow rushing on her breast;	10	···/˘/˘···
She felt his dear embrace--her closing eyes	10	····˘/·/˘·
Were fix'd on Alfred, and her death was blest.--	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.

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Poems (1786)