Remembrance
Cold in the earth--and the deep snow piled above thee,Far, far, removed, cold in the dreary grave!Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave?
Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hoverOver the mountains, on that northern shore,Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves coverThy noble heart for ever, ever more?
Cold in the earth--and fifteen wild Decembers,From those brown hills, have melted into spring:Faithful, indeed, is the spirit that remembersAfter such years of change and suffering!
Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee,While the world's tide is bearing me along;Other desires and other hopes beset me,Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong!
No later light has lightened up my heaven,No second morn has ever shone for me;All my life's bliss from thy dear life was given,All my life's bliss is in the grave with thee.
But, when the days of golden dreams had perished,And even Despair was powerless to destroy;Then did I learn how existence could be cherished,Strengthened, and fed without the aid of joy.
Then did I check the tears of useless passion--Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine;Sternly denied its burning wish to hastenDown to that tomb already more than mine.
And, even yet, I dare not let it languish,Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain;Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish,How could I seek the empty world again?
Words in this poem
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- hover n.
- A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Remembrance 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, Remembrance, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/remembrance.html, id L13234.
Form and metre
Remembrance is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 11 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 iambic pentameter.
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 theeA · graveB · theeA · waveB
- 2 ABAB hoverA · shoreB · coverA · moreB
- 3 ABAB decembersA · springB · remembersA · sufferingB
- 4 ABAB theeA · alongB · meA · wrongB
- 5 -A-A heaven · meA · given · theeA
- 6 ABAB perishedA · destroyB · cherishedA · joyB
- 7 AAAA passionA · thineA · hastenA · mineA
- 8 ABAB languishA · painB · anguishA · againB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Cold in the earth--and the deep snow piled above thee, | 12 | ············ |
| Far, far, removed, cold in the dreary grave! | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘···· |
| Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave? | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover | 12 | ··˘/····/˘/˘ |
| Over the mountains, on that northern shore, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves cover | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Thy noble heart for ever, ever more? | 8 | ·/˘··//· |
| Cold in the earth--and fifteen wild Decembers, | 11 | ·····//·˘/˘ |
| From those brown hills, have melted into spring: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Faithful, indeed, is the spirit that remembers | 11 | /˘˘/··/·˘/˘ |
| After such years of change and suffering! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee, | 11 | ····˘/··˘/· |
| While the world's tide is bearing me along; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Other desires and other hopes beset me, | 11 | /˘˘/·/˘·˘/· |
| Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong! | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| No later light has lightened up my heaven, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··/ |
| No second morn has ever shone for me; | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| All my life's bliss from thy dear life was given, | 10 | ·········/ |
| All my life's bliss is in the grave with thee. | 10 | ·········· |
| But, when the days of golden dreams had perished, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| And even Despair was powerless to destroy; | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Then did I learn how existence could be cherished, | 12 | ·····˘/˘··/˘ |
| Strengthened, and fed without the aid of joy. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Then did I check the tears of useless passion-- | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten | 11 | /˘˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Down to that tomb already more than mine. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And, even yet, I dare not let it languish, | 10 | ·/······/˘ |
| Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| How could I seek the empty world again? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
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.