Analysis of Italian Girl's Hymn To The Virgin
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
In the deep hour of dreams,
Through the dark woods, and past the moaning sea,
And by the star-light gleams,
Mother of sorrows! lo, I come to thee!
Unto thy shrine I bear
Night-blowing flowers, like my own heart, to lie
All, all unfolded there,
Beneath the meekness of thy pitying eye.
For thou, that once didst move,
In thy still beauty, through an early home,
Thou knowest the grief, the love,
The fear of woman's soul; - to thee I come!
Many, and sad, and deep,
Were the thoughts folded in thy silent breast;
Thou, too, couldst watch and weep -
Hear, gentlest mother! hear a heart oppressed!
There is a wandering bark
Bearing one from me o'er the restless wave:
Oh! let thy soft eye mark
His course; - be with him, holiest, guide and save!
My soul is on that way;
My thoughts are travellers o'er the waters dim;
Through the long weary day
I walk, o'ershadowed by vain dreams of him.
Aid him - and me, too, aid!
Oh! 'tis not well, this earthly love's excess!
On thy weak child is laid
The burden of too deep a tenderness.
Too much o'er
him
is poured
My being's hope - scarce leaving Heaven a part;
Too faithfully adored,
Oh! make not him the chastener of my heart!
I tremble with a sense
Of grief to be; - I hear a warming low
Sweet mother! call me hence!
This wild idolatry must end in woe.
The troubled joy of life,
Love's lightning happiness, my soul hath known
And, worn with feverish strife,
Would fold its wings; take back, take back thine own.
Hark! how the wind swept by!
The tempest's voice comes rolling o'er the wave -
Hope of the sailor's eye,
And maiden's heart, blest mother, guide and save!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XXXX EFEF GHGH IJIJ KXKX XJLMLM NONO PQPQ DHDH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0011011 1011010101 010111 1011011111 101111 11010111111 110101 0101111001 111111 0111011101 110101 0111011111 100101 0011001101 111101 11001010101 1101001 10111100101 111111 11111100101 111111 111100100101 101101 11111111 110111 111111011 111111 0101110100 1110 1 11 11011101001 110001 111101111 110101 1111110101 110111 1101001101 010111 1101001111 0111001 1111111111 110111 0111101001 110101 011110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,572 |
Words | 304 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 111 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 103 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Italian Girl's Hymn To The Virgin" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13509/italian-girl%27s-hymn-to-the-virgin>.
Discuss this Felicia Dorothea Hemans poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In