If Sometimes in the Haunts of Men.Bl
If sometimes in the haunts of menThine image from my breast may fade,The lonely hour presents againThe semblance of thy gentle shade:And now that sad and silent hourThus much of thee can still restore,And sorrow unobserved may pourThe plaint she dare not speak before.
Oh, pardon that in crowds awhileI waste one thought I owe to thee,And self-condemned, appear to smile,Unfaithful to thy memory:Nor deem that memory less dear,That then I seem not to repine;I would not fools should overhearOne sigh that should be wholly thine.
If not the Goblet pass unquaffed,It is not drained to banish care;The cup must hold a deadlier draughtThat brings a Lethe for despair.And could Oblivion set my soulFrom all her troubled visions free,I'd dash to earth the sweetest bowlThat drowned a single thought of thee.
For wert thou vanished from my mind,Where could my vacant bosom turn?And who would then remain behindTo honour thine abandoned Urn?No, no--it is my sorrow's prideThat last dear duty to fulfil;Though all the world forget beside,'Tis meet that I remember still.
For well I know, that such had beenThy gentle care for him, who nowUnmourned shall quit this mortal scene,Where none regarded him, but thou:And, oh! I feel in that was givenA blessing never meant for me;Thou wert too like a dream of Heaven,For earthly Love to merit thee.
Words in this poem
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- 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]
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- overhear v. t.
- To hear more of (anything) than was intended to be heard; to hear by accident or artifice. [AS. oferhiéran.]
- lethe n.
- A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past.
- 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.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- 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
If Sometimes in the Haunts of Men.Bl 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, If Sometimes in the Haunts of Men.Bl, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/if-sometimes-in-the-haunts-of-men-bl.html, id L23845.
Form and metre
If Sometimes in the Haunts of Men.Bl is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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-CCC menA · fadeB · againA · shadeB · hour · restoreC · pourC · beforeC
- 2 A-A-B-B- awhileA · thee · smileA · memory · dearB · repine · overhearB · thine
- 3 ABABCDCD unquaffedA · careB · draughtA · despairB · soulC · freeD · bowlC · theeD
- 4 ABABC-C- mindA · turnB · behindA · urnB · prideC · fulfil · besideC · still
- 5 ABABACAC beenA · nowB · sceneA · thouB · givenA · meC · heavenA · theeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If sometimes in the haunts of men | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Thine image from my breast may fade, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The lonely hour presents again | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘/ |
| The semblance of thy gentle shade: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And now that sad and silent hour | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Thus much of thee can still restore, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And sorrow unobserved may pour | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The plaint she dare not speak before. | 8 | ········ |
| Oh, pardon that in crowds awhile | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I waste one thought I owe to thee, | 8 | ········ |
| And self-condemned, appear to smile, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Unfaithful to thy memory: | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Nor deem that memory less dear, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| That then I seem not to repine; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I would not fools should overhear | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| One sigh that should be wholly thine. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If not the Goblet pass unquaffed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It is not drained to banish care; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The cup must hold a deadlier draught | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That brings a Lethe for despair. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And could Oblivion set my soul | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| From all her troubled visions free, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I'd dash to earth the sweetest bowl | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That drowned a single thought of thee. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For wert thou vanished from my mind, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where could my vacant bosom turn? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And who would then remain behind | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To honour thine abandoned Urn? | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| No, no--it is my sorrow's pride | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That last dear duty to fulfil; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though all the world forget beside, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| 'Tis meet that I remember still. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| For well I know, that such had been | 8 | ········ |
| Thy gentle care for him, who now | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Unmourned shall quit this mortal scene, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where none regarded him, but thou: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And, oh! I feel in that was given | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| A blessing never meant for me; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thou wert too like a dream of Heaven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For earthly Love to merit thee. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
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.