Euthanasia
When Time, or soon or late, shall bringThe dreamless sleep that lulls the dead,Oblivion! may thy languid wingWave gently o'er my dying bed!
No band of friends or heirs be there,To weep, or wish, the coming blow:No maiden, with dishevelled hair,To feel, or feign, decorous woe.
But silent let me sink to Earth,With no officious mourners near:I would not mar one hour of mirth,Nor startle Friendship with a fear.
Yet Love, if Love in such an hourCould nobly check its useless sighs,Might then exert its latest powerIn her who lives, and him who dies.
'Twere sweet, my Psyche! to the lastThy features still serene to see:Forgetful of its struggles past,E'en Pain itself should smile on thee.
But vain the wish--for Beauty stillWill shrink, as shrinks the ebbing breath;And Woman's tears, produced at will,Deceive in life, unman in death.
Then lonely be my latest hour,Without regret, without a groan;For thousands Death hath ceased to lower,And pain been transient or unknown.
"Aye but to die, and go," alas!Where all have gone, and all must go!To be the nothing that I wasEre born to life and living woe!
Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen,Count o'er thy days from anguish free,And know, whatever thou hast been,'Tis something better not to be.
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,]
- dreamless a.
- Free from, or without, dreams. Camden.
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- exert v. t.
- To thrust forth; to emit; to push out. [L. exertus, exsertus, p.p. of exerere, exserere, to thrust out; ex out + serere to join or bind together. See Series, and cf. Exsert.]
- psyche n.
- A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
- unman v. t.
- To deprive of the distinctive qualities of a human being, as reason, or the like. South. [1st pref. un- + man.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Euthanasia is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, Euthanasia, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/euthanasia.html, id L23842.
Form and metre
Euthanasia is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 bringA · deadB · wingA · bedB
- 2 ABAB thereA · blowB · hairA · woeB
- 3 ABAB earthA · nearB · mirthA · fearB
- 4 ABAB hourA · sighsB · powerA · diesB
- 5 ABAB lastA · seeB · pastA · theeB
- 6 ABAB stillA · breathB · willA · deathB
- 7 -A-A hour · groanA · lower · unknownA
- 8 -A-A alas · goA · was · woeA
- 9 -A-A seen · freeA · been · beA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When Time, or soon or late, shall bring | 8 | ········ |
| The dreamless sleep that lulls the dead, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Oblivion! may thy languid wing | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Wave gently o'er my dying bed! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No band of friends or heirs be there, | 8 | ········ |
| To weep, or wish, the coming blow: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No maiden, with dishevelled hair, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To feel, or feign, decorous woe. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| But silent let me sink to Earth, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With no officious mourners near: | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| I would not mar one hour of mirth, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Nor startle Friendship with a fear. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Yet Love, if Love in such an hour | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Could nobly check its useless sighs, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Might then exert its latest power | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| In her who lives, and him who dies. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twere sweet, my Psyche! to the last | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy features still serene to see: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Forgetful of its struggles past, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| E'en Pain itself should smile on thee. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But vain the wish--for Beauty still | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will shrink, as shrinks the ebbing breath; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Woman's tears, produced at will, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Deceive in life, unman in death. | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Then lonely be my latest hour, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Without regret, without a groan; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For thousands Death hath ceased to lower, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And pain been transient or unknown. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "Aye but to die, and go," alas! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Where all have gone, and all must go! | 8 | ········ |
| To be the nothing that I was | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ere born to life and living woe! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Count o'er thy days from anguish free, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And know, whatever thou hast been, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Tis something better not to be. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
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