Never the Time and the Place
Never the time and the placeAnd the loved one all together!This path--how soft to pace!This May--what magic weather!Where is the loved one's face?In a dream that loved one's face meets mine,But the house is narrow, the place is bleakWhere, outside, rain and wind combineWith a furtive ear, if I strive to speak,With a hostile eye at my flushing cheek,With a malice that marks each word, each sign!O enemy sly and serpentine,Uncoil thee from the waking man!Do I hold the PastThus firm and fastYet doubt if the Future hold I can?This path so soft to pace shall leadThrough the magic of May to herself indeed!Or narrow if needs the house must be,Outside are the storms and strangers; we--Oh, close, safe, warm sleep I and she--I and she!
Words in this poem
- furtive a.
- Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. Prior. [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.]
- uncoil v. t.
- To unwind or open, as a coil of rope. Derham. [1st pref. un- + coil.]
- 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,]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Never the Time and the Place is in the public domain. This text is taken from Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, Project Gutenberg ebook #28041; 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 Browning, Never the Time and the Place, in Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning (1864), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #28041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/browning-selections/never-the-time-and-the-place.html, id L25128.
Form and metre
Never the Time and the Place is 22 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABACDCDDCCEFFEGGHHHH.
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 ABABACDCDDCCEFFEGGHHHH placeA · togetherB · paceA · weatherB · faceA · mineC · bleakD · combineC · speakD · cheekD · signC · serpentineC · manE · pastF · fastF · canE · leadG · indeedG · beH · weH · sheH · sheH
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Never the time and the place | 7 | /˘····· |
| And the loved one all together! | 9 | ···˘··˘/˘ |
| This path--how soft to pace! | 6 | ······ |
| This May--what magic weather! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Where is the loved one's face? | 6 | ······ |
| In a dream that loved one's face meets mine, | 10 | ·····˘···· |
| But the house is narrow, the place is bleak | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Where, outside, rain and wind combine | 8 | ·//···/˘ |
| With a furtive ear, if I strive to speak, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| With a hostile eye at my flushing cheek, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| With a malice that marks each word, each sign! | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| O enemy sly and serpentine, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Uncoil thee from the waking man! | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Do I hold the Past | 5 | ····· |
| Thus firm and fast | 4 | ···· |
| Yet doubt if the Future hold I can? | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| This path so soft to pace shall lead | 8 | ········ |
| Through the magic of May to herself indeed! | 11 | ··/˘···˘/˘/ |
| Or narrow if needs the house must be, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Outside are the storms and strangers; we-- | 9 | //····/˘· |
| Oh, close, safe, warm sleep I and she | 8 | ········ |
| --I and she! | 3 | ··· |
On this poem
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.