On Being Asked What Was the "Origin of Love."Bw
The "Origin of Love!"--Ah, whyThat cruel question ask of me,When thou mayst read in many an eyeHe starts to life on seeing thee?And shouldst thou seek his end to know:My heart forebodes, my fears foresee,He'll linger long in silent woe;But live until--I cease to be.
"And my true faith can alter never,Though thou art gone perhaps for ever."
And "thy true faith can alter never?"--Indeed it lasted for a--week!I know the length of Love's forever,And just expected such a freak.In peace we met, in peace we parted,In peace we vowed to meet again,And though I find thee fickle-heartedNo pang of mine shall make thee vain.
One gone--'twas time to seek a second;In sooth 'twere hard to blame thy haste.And whatsoe'er thy love be reckoned,At least thou hast improved in taste:Though one was young, the next was younger,His love was new, mine too well known--And what might make the charm still stronger,The youth was present, I was flown.
Seven days and nights of single sorrow!Too much for human constancy!A fortnight past, why then to-morrow,His turn is come to follow me:And if each week you change a lover,And so have acted heretofore,Before a year or two is overWe'll form a very pretty corps.
Adieu, fair thing! without upbraidingI fain would take a decent leave;Thy beauty still survives unfading,And undeceived may long deceive.With him unto thy bosom dearerEnjoy the moments as they flee;I only wish his love sincererThan thy young heart has been to me.
Words in this poem
- foresee v. i.
- To have or exercise foresight.
- 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,]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- fortnight n.
- The space of fourteen days; two weeks. [Contr. fr. fourteen nights, our ancestors reckoning time by nights and winters; so, also, seven nights, sennight, a week.]
- corps n.
- The human body, whether living or dead. See Corpse, 1. [F., fr. L. corpus body. See Corpse.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Being Asked What Was the "Origin of Love."Bw 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, On Being Asked What Was the "Origin of Love."Bw, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/on-being-asked-what-was-the-origin-of-love-bw.html, id L23855.
Form and metre
On Being Asked What Was the "Origin of Love."Bw is 42 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCBCB whyA · meB · eyeA · theeB · knowC · foreseeB · woeC · beB
- 2 AA neverA · everA
- 3 ABABCDCD neverA · weekB · foreverA · freakB · partedC · againD · heartedC · vainD
- 4 ABAB-C-C secondA · hasteB · reckonedA · tasteB · younger · knownC · stronger · flownC
- 5 A-A--B-B sorrowA · constancy · morrowA · me · lover · heretoforeB · over · corpsB
- 6 ABAB-C-C upbraidingA · leaveB · unfadingA · deceiveB · dearer · fleeC · sincerer · meC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The "Origin of Love!"--Ah, why | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| That cruel question ask of me, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When thou mayst read in many an eye | 8 | ·····/·· |
| He starts to life on seeing thee? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And shouldst thou seek his end to know: | 8 | ········ |
| My heart forebodes, my fears foresee, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| He'll linger long in silent woe; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But live until--I cease to be. | 8 | ········ |
| "And my true faith can alter never, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Though thou art gone perhaps for ever." | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| And "thy true faith can alter never?"-- | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Indeed it lasted for a--week! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I know the length of Love's forever, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And just expected such a freak. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| In peace we met, in peace we parted, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In peace we vowed to meet again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And though I find thee fickle-hearted | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| No pang of mine shall make thee vain. | 8 | ········ |
| One gone--'twas time to seek a second; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In sooth 'twere hard to blame thy haste. | 8 | ········ |
| And whatsoe'er thy love be reckoned, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| At least thou hast improved in taste: | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Though one was young, the next was younger, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| His love was new, mine too well known-- | 8 | ········ |
| And what might make the charm still stronger, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The youth was present, I was flown. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Seven days and nights of single sorrow! | 9 | /····/˘/˘ |
| Too much for human constancy! | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| A fortnight past, why then to-morrow, | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| His turn is come to follow me: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And if each week you change a lover, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And so have acted heretofore, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Before a year or two is over | 8 | ········ |
| We'll form a very pretty corps. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Adieu, fair thing! without upbraiding | 9 | ˘/····/·˘ |
| I fain would take a decent leave; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy beauty still survives unfading, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/··· |
| And undeceived may long deceive. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With him unto thy bosom dearer | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Enjoy the moments as they flee; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I only wish his love sincerer | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Than thy young heart has been to me. | 8 | ········ |
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