Passion
Some have won a wild delight,By daring wilder sorrow;Could I gain thy love to-night,I'd hazard death to-morrow.
Could the battle-struggle earnOne kind glance from thine eye,How this withering heart would burn,The heady fight to try!
Welcome nights of broken sleep,And days of carnage cold,Could I deem that thou wouldst weepTo hear my perils told.
Tell me, if with wandering bandsI roam full far away,Wilt thou to those distant landsIn spirit ever stray?
Wild, long, a trumpet sounds afar;Bid me--bid me goWhere Seik and Briton meet in war,On Indian Sutlej's flow.
Blood has dyed the Sutlej's wavesWith scarlet stain, I know;Indus' borders yawn with graves,Yet, command me go!
Though rank and high the holocaustOf nations steams to heaven,Glad I'd join the death-doomed host,Were but the mandate given.
Passion's strength should nerve my arm,Its ardour stir my life,Till human force to that dread charmShould yield and sink in wild alarm,Like trees to tempest-strife.
If, hot from war, I seek thy love,Darest thou turn aside?Darest thou then my fire reprove,By scorn, and maddening pride?
No--my will shall yet controlThy will, so high and free,And love shall tame that haughty soul--Yes--tenderest love for me.
I'll read my triumph in thine eyes,Behold, and prove the change;Then leave, perchance, my noble prize,Once more in arms to range.
I'd die when all the foam is up,The bright wine sparkling high;Nor wait till in the exhausted cupLife's dull dregs only lie.
Then Love thus crowned with sweet reward,Hope blest with fulness large,I'd mount the saddle, draw the sword,And perish in the charge!
Words in this poem
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
- heady a.
- Willful; rash; precipitate; hurried on by will or passion; ungovernable. [From Head.]
- carnage n.
- Flesh of slain animals or men. [F. carnage, LL. carnaticum tribute of animals, flesh of animals, fr. L. caro, carnis, flesh. See Carnal.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- holocaust n.
- A burnt sacrifice; an offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire, among the Jews and some pagan nations. [L. holocaustum, Gr. "o'los whole + kaysto`s burnt, fr. kai`ein to burn (cf. Caustic): cf. F. holocauste.]
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- 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,]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Passion 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, Passion, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/passion.html, id L13223.
Form and metre
Passion is 53 lines in 13 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 4 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 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 ABAB delightA · sorrowB · nightA · morrowB
- 2 ABAB earnA · eyeB · burnA · tryB
- 3 ABAB sleepA · coldB · weepA · toldB
- 4 ABAB bandsA · awayB · landsA · strayB
- 5 -A-A afar · goA · war · flowA
- 6 ABAB wavesA · knowB · gravesA · goB
- 8 ABAAB armA · lifeB · charmA · alarmA · strifeB
- 9 -A-A love · asideA · reprove · prideA
- 10 ABAB controlA · freeB · soulA · meB
- 11 ABAB eyesA · changeB · prizeA · rangeB
- 12 ABAB upA · highB · cupA · lieB
- 13 ABAB rewardA · largeB · swordA · chargeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Some have won a wild delight, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| By daring wilder sorrow; | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Could I gain thy love to-night, | 7 | ······· |
| I'd hazard death to-morrow. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Could the battle-struggle earn | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| One kind glance from thine eye, | 6 | ······ |
| How this withering heart would burn, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| The heady fight to try! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Welcome nights of broken sleep, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And days of carnage cold, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Could I deem that thou wouldst weep | 7 | ······· |
| To hear my perils told. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Tell me, if with wandering bands | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| I roam full far away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Wilt thou to those distant lands | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In spirit ever stray? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Wild, long, a trumpet sounds afar; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Bid me--bid me go | 5 | ····· |
| Where Seik and Briton meet in war, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On Indian Sutlej's flow. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Blood has dyed the Sutlej's waves | 7 | ······· |
| With scarlet stain, I know; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Indus' borders yawn with graves, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Yet, command me go! | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Though rank and high the holocaust | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of nations steams to heaven, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Glad I'd join the death-doomed host, | 8 | ······˘· |
| Were but the mandate given. | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Passion's strength should nerve my arm, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Its ardour stir my life, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Till human force to that dread charm | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Should yield and sink in wild alarm, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Like trees to tempest-strife. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If, hot from war, I seek thy love, | 8 | ········ |
| Darest thou turn aside? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Darest thou then my fire reprove, | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| By scorn, and maddening pride? | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| No--my will shall yet control | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Thy will, so high and free, | 6 | ······ |
| And love shall tame that haughty soul-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yes--tenderest love for me. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| I'll read my triumph in thine eyes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Behold, and prove the change; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Then leave, perchance, my noble prize, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Once more in arms to range. | 6 | ······ |
| I'd die when all the foam is up, | 8 | ········ |
| The bright wine sparkling high; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nor wait till in the exhausted cup | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Life's dull dregs only lie. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then Love thus crowned with sweet reward, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Hope blest with fulness large, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I'd mount the saddle, draw the sword, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And perish in the charge! | 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.