Will Love Again Awake
It is a lady fairWhom once he deigned to praise,That at the door doth dareHer sad complaint to raise.
She must be fair of face,As bold of heart she seems,If she would match her graceWith the delight of dreams.
Her beauty would surpriseGazers on Autumn eves,Who watched the broad moon riseUpon the scattered sheaves.
O sweet must be the voiceHe shall descend to hear,Who doth in Heaven rejoiceHis most enchanted ear.
The smile, that rests to playUpon her lip, foretellsWhat musical arrayTricks her sweet syllables
And yet her smiles have dancedIn vain, if her discourseWin not the soul entrancedIn divine intercourse.
She will encounter allThis trial without shame,Her eyes men Beauty call,And Wisdom is her name.
Throw back the portals then,Ye guards, your watch that keep,Love will awake againThat lay so long asleep.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Will Love Again Awake is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Excluding the Eight Dramas, Project Gutenberg ebook #37804; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bridges, Will Love Again Awake, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/will-love-again-awake.html, id L20537.
Form and metre
Will Love Again Awake is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 fairA · praiseB · dareA · raiseB
- 2 ABAB faceA · seemsB · graceA · dreamsB
- 3 ABAB surpriseA · evesB · riseA · sheavesB
- 4 ABAB voiceA · hearB · rejoiceA · earB
- 5 ABAB playA · foretellsB · arrayA · syllablesB
- 6 ABAB dancedA · discourseB · entrancedA · intercourseB
- 7 ABAB allA · shameB · callA · nameB
- 8 ABAB thenA · keepB · againA · asleepB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It is a lady fair | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Whom once he deigned to praise, | 6 | ······ |
| That at the door doth dare | 6 | ······ |
| Her sad complaint to raise. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| She must be fair of face, | 6 | ······ |
| As bold of heart she seems, | 6 | ······ |
| If she would match her grace | 6 | ······ |
| With the delight of dreams. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Her beauty would surprise | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Gazers on Autumn eves, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who watched the broad moon rise | 6 | ······ |
| Upon the scattered sheaves. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O sweet must be the voice | 6 | ······ |
| He shall descend to hear, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Who doth in Heaven rejoice | 6 | ···/˘/ |
| His most enchanted ear. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The smile, that rests to play | 6 | ······ |
| Upon her lip, foretells | 6 | ····˘/ |
| What musical array | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Tricks her sweet syllables | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And yet her smiles have danced | 6 | ······ |
| In vain, if her discourse | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Win not the soul entranced | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In divine intercourse. | 6 | ·˘//˘· |
| She will encounter all | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| This trial without shame, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Her eyes men Beauty call, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Wisdom is her name. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Throw back the portals then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ye guards, your watch that keep, | 6 | ······ |
| Love will awake again | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| That lay so long asleep. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.