A Memory-Picture
Laugh, my friends, and without blameLightly quit what lightly came;Rich to-morrow as to-day,Spend as madly as you may!I, with little land to stir,Am the exacter laborer.Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
Once I said, “A face is goneIf too hotly mused upon;And our best impressions areThose that do themselves repair.”Many a face I so let flee--Ah!-is faded utterly.Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
Marguerite says, “As last year went,So the coming year’ll be spent;Some day next year, I shall be,Entering heedless, kissed by thee.”Ah, I hope! yet, once away,What may chain us, who can say?Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
Paint that lilac kerchief, boundHer soft face, her hair around;Tied under the archest chinMockery ever ambushed in.Let the fluttering fringes streakAll her pale, sweet-rounded cheek.Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
Paint that figure’s pliant graceAs she toward me leaned her face,Half refused and half resigned,Murmuring, “Art thou still unkind?”Many a broken promise thenWas new made--to break again.Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
Paint those eyes, so blue, so kind,Eager tell-tales of her mind;Paint, with their impetuous stressOf inquiring tenderness,Those frank eyes, where deep doth beAn angelic gravity.Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
What! my friends, these feeble linesShow, you say, my love declines?To paint ill as I have done,Proves forgetfulness begun?Time’s gay minions, pleased you see,Time, your master, governs me;Pleased, you mock the fruitless cry,--“Quick, thy tablets, Memory!”
Ah, too true! Time’s current strongLeaves us true to nothing long.Yet, if little stays with man,Ah, retain we all we can!If the clear impression dies,Ah, the dim remembrance prize!Ere the parting hour go by,Quick, thy tablets, Memory!
Words in this poem
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- hotly adv.
- In a hot or fiery manner; ardently; vehemently; violently; hastily; as, a hotly pursued. [From Hot, a.]
- marguerite n.
- The daisy (Bellis perennis). The name is often applied also to the ox-eye daisy and to the China aster. [F., a pearl, a daisy. See Margarite.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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,]
- resigned a.
- Submissive; yielding; not disposed to resist or murmur.
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Memory-Picture is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54985; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matthew Arnold, A Memory-Picture, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/a-memory-picture.html, id L06948.
Form and metre
A Memory-Picture is 64 lines in 8 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 59% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 AABB---- blameA · cameA · dayB · mayB · stir · laborer · by · memory
- 2 ----A-A- gone · upon · are · repair · fleeA · utterly · byA · memory
- 3 AABBCCB- wentA · spentA · beB · theeB · awayC · sayC · byB · memory
- 4 AABBCC-- boundA · aroundA · chinB · inB · streakC · cheekC · by · memory
- 5 AABBCC-- graceA · faceA · resignedB · unkindB · thenC · againC · by · memory
- 6 AABBC-C- kindA · mindA · stressB · tendernessB · beC · gravity · byC · memory
- 7 AABBCCC- linesA · declinesA · doneB · begunB · seeC · meC · cryC · memory
- 8 AABBCC-- strongA · longA · manB · canB · diesC · prizeC · by · memory
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Laugh, my friends, and without blame | 7 | ······· |
| Lightly quit what lightly came; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Rich to-morrow as to-day, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Spend as madly as you may! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I, with little land to stir, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Am the exacter laborer. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Once I said, “A face is gone | 7 | ······· |
| If too hotly mused upon; | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| And our best impressions are | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Those that do themselves repair.” | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| Many a face I so let flee-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| Ah!-is faded utterly. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Marguerite says, “As last year went, | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| So the coming year’ll be spent; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Some day next year, I shall be, | 7 | ······· |
| Entering heedless, kissed by thee.” | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Ah, I hope! yet, once away, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| What may chain us, who can say? | 7 | ······· |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Paint that lilac kerchief, bound | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Her soft face, her hair around; | 7 | ······· |
| Tied under the archest chin | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Mockery ever ambushed in. | 8 | /˘˘/˘/·· |
| Let the fluttering fringes streak | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| All her pale, sweet-rounded cheek. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Paint that figure’s pliant grace | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| As she toward me leaned her face, | 8 | ········ |
| Half refused and half resigned, | 8 | ·˘/˘··˘/ |
| Murmuring, “Art thou still unkind?” | 8 | /˘˘···˘/ |
| Many a broken promise then | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Was new made--to break again. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Paint those eyes, so blue, so kind, | 7 | ······· |
| Eager tell-tales of her mind; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Paint, with their impetuous stress | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Of inquiring tenderness, | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Those frank eyes, where deep doth be | 7 | ······· |
| An angelic gravity. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| What! my friends, these feeble lines | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Show, you say, my love declines? | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To paint ill as I have done, | 7 | ······· |
| Proves forgetfulness begun? | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Time’s gay minions, pleased you see, | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| Time, your master, governs me; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Pleased, you mock the fruitless cry,-- | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| “Quick, thy tablets, Memory!” | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Ah, too true! Time’s current strong | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Leaves us true to nothing long. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Yet, if little stays with man, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ah, retain we all we can! | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| If the clear impression dies, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Ah, the dim remembrance prize! | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Ere the parting hour go by, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Quick, thy tablets, Memory! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
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.