Despondency
I have gone backward in the work;The labour has not sped;Drowsy and dark my spirit lies,Heavy and dull as lead.
How can I rouse my sinking soulFrom such a lethargy?How can I break these iron chainsAnd set my spirit free?
There have been times when I have mourned!In anguish o'er the past,And raised my suppliant hands on high,While tears fell thick and fast;
And prayed to have my sins forgiven,With such a fervent zeal,An earnest grief, a strong desireAs now I cannot feel.
And I have felt so full of love,So strong in spirit then,As if my heart would never cool,Or wander back again.
And yet, alas! how many timesMy feet have gone astray!How oft have I forgot my God!How greatly fallen away!
My sins increase--my love grows cold,And Hope within me dies:Even Faith itself is wavering now;Oh, how shall I arise?
I cannot weep, but I can pray,Then let me not despair:Lord Jesus, save me, lest I die!Christ, hear my humble prayer!
Words in this poem
- lethargy n.
- Morbid drowsiness; continued or profound sleep, from which a person can scarcely be awaked. [F. léthargie, L. letgargia, Gr. Lethe.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Despondency is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Despondency, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/despondency.html, id L13285.
Form and metre
Despondency is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 -A-A work · spedA · lies · leadA
- 3 -A-A mourned · pastA · high · fastA
- 4 -A-A forgiven · zealA · desire · feelA
- 5 -A-A love · thenA · cool · againA
- 6 -A-A times · astrayA · god · awayA
- 7 -A-A cold · diesA · now · ariseA
- 8 -A-A pray · despairA · die · prayerA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I have gone backward in the work; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The labour has not sped; | 6 | ·/···· |
| Drowsy and dark my spirit lies, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Heavy and dull as lead. | 6 | /˘···· |
| How can I rouse my sinking soul | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From such a lethargy? | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| How can I break these iron chains | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And set my spirit free? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| There have been times when I have mourned! | 8 | ········ |
| In anguish o'er the past, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And raised my suppliant hands on high, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| While tears fell thick and fast; | 6 | ······ |
| And prayed to have my sins forgiven, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| With such a fervent zeal, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| An earnest grief, a strong desire | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| As now I cannot feel. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And I have felt so full of love, | 8 | ········ |
| So strong in spirit then, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As if my heart would never cool, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or wander back again. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And yet, alas! how many times | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| My feet have gone astray! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| How oft have I forgot my God! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| How greatly fallen away! | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘/ |
| My sins increase--my love grows cold, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And Hope within me dies: | 6 | ······ |
| Even Faith itself is wavering now; | 8 | /·˘/·/˘· |
| Oh, how shall I arise? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I cannot weep, but I can pray, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Then let me not despair: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Lord Jesus, save me, lest I die! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Christ, hear my humble prayer! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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