Dartmouth Church



JUST where the evening sunbeams rest, there hangs
A simple tablet with a maiden's name,
And with a common history—alas,
That such things should be common ! There are some
In youth so full of youth's divinest part,
Its hope, its ready sympathies, its joy,
That grief (our natural portion) seems to have
No part in them. Edith was one of these.
The morning gave its blushes and its light
To that sweet face, which shone upon us all
With an unconscious gladness. Never mouth
Had such a gay variety of smiles,
Her very hair was bright, and o’er her neck
Wandered like sunshine. Many an aged ear
Would listen for the music of her step,
For frequent was her visit to the old,
Who grew more cheerful, and thanked God that gave
A creature of such loveliness to earth :
The heart spoke in her countenance, and shewed
The inward beauty. Long before you saw,
You heard her glad voice singing like a bird,
E’en from the fulness of its own delight.
She passed away from us, as fades the flower
That bears the secret of its own decay.
Her cheek forgot its rose, or only wore
A hectic flush, and in her eyes there shone
A feverish radiance : from the first she knew
That on her was the shadow of the grave;
And as it darkened, she but grew more meek,
More calm, more earnest, and more spiritual,
As if she felt that heaven was her home,
And she but hastening thither.

In the melancholy occupation of turning over the note book of a deceased friend, I met with the following copy of, or idea for, a monumental inscription:—

“EDITH RICHARDSON,
AGED EIGHTEEN YEARS AND THREE MONTHS.
SHE DIED YOUNG AND HAPPY.”
Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted by Madeleine Quinn on August 05, 2016

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:28 min read
69

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXXXAXXXBXXXXCXXDXAXXBXXXXXDXXXC E EXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,569
Words 294
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 32, 1, 3

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Letitia Elizabeth Landon was an English poet. Born 14th August 1802 at 25 Hans Place, Chelsea, she lived through the most productive period of her life nearby, at No.22. A precocious child with a natural gift for poetry, she was driven by the financial needs of her family to become a professional writer and thus a target for malicious gossip (although her three children by William Jerdan were successfully hidden from the public). In 1838, she married George Maclean, governor of Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast, whence she travelled, only to die a few months later (15th October) of a fatal heart condition. Behind her post-Romantic style of sentimentality lie preoccupations with art, decay and loss that give her poetry its characteristic intensity and in this vein she attempted to reinterpret some of the great male texts from a woman’s perspective. Her originality rapidly led to her being one of the most read authors of her day and her influence, commencing with Tennyson in England and Poe in America, was long-lasting. However, Victorian attitudes led to her poetry being misrepresented and she became excluded from the canon of English literature, where she belongs. more…

All Letitia Elizabeth Landon poems | Letitia Elizabeth Landon Books

3 fans

Discuss the poem Dartmouth Church with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Dartmouth Church" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/45086/dartmouth-church>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    16
    hours
    33
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    How many lines does a sonnet have?
    A 18
    B 16
    C 14
    D 12