Remember Him, Whom Passion's Power
Remember him, whom Passion's powerSeverely--deeply--vainly proved:Remember thou that dangerous hour,When neither fell, though both were loved.bx
That yielding breast, that melting eye,byToo much invited to be blessed:That gentle prayer, that pleading sigh,The wilder wish reproved, repressed.
Oh! let me feel that all I lostbzBut saved thee all that Conscience fears;And blush for every pang it costTo spare the vain remorse of years.
Yet think of this when many a tongue,Whose busy accents whisper blame,Would do the heart that loved thee wrong,And brand a nearly blighted name.ca
Think that, whate'er to others, thouHast seen each selfish thought subdued:I bless thy purer soul even now,Even now, in midnight solitude.
Oh, God! that we had met in time,Our hearts as fond, thy hand more free;When thou hadst loved without a crime,And I been less unworthy thee!cb
Far may thy days, as heretofore,ccFrom this our gaudy world be past!And that too bitter moment o'er,Oh! may such trial be thy last.
This heart, alas! perverted long,Itself destroyed might there destroy;To meet thee in the glittering throng,Would wake Presumption's hope of joy.cd
Then to the things whose bliss or woe,Like mine, is wild and worthless all,That world resign--such scenes forego,Where those who feel must surely fall.
Thy youth, thy charms, thy tenderness--Thy soul from long seclusion pure;From what even here hath passed, may guessWhat there thy bosom must endure.
Oh! pardon that imploring tear,Since not by Virtue shed in vain,My frenzy drew from eyes so dear;For me they shall not weep again.
Though long and mournful must it be,The thought that we no more may meet;Yet I deserve the stern decree,And almost deem the sentence sweet.
Still--had I loved thee less--my heartHad then less sacrificed to thine;It felt not half so much to partAs if its guilt had made thee mine.
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- forego v. t.
- To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
- imploring a.
- That implores; beseeching; entreating.
- 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,]
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Remember Him, Whom Passion's Power 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, Remember Him, Whom Passion's Power, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/remember-him-whom-passion-s-power.html, id L23856.
Form and metre
Remember Him, Whom Passion's Power is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 A-A- powerA · proved · hourA · loved.bx
- 2 ABAB eye,byA · blessedB · sighA · repressedB
- 3 -A-A lostbz · fearsA · cost · yearsA
- 5 ABAB thouA · subduedB · nowA · solitudeB
- 6 A-A- timeA · free · crimeA · thee!cb
- 7 -A-A heretofore,cc · pastA · o'er · lastA
- 8 A-A- longA · destroy · throngA · joy.cd
- 9 ABAB woeA · allB · foregoA · fallB
- 10 ABAB tendernessA · pureB · guessA · endureB
- 11 ABAB tearA · vainB · dearA · againB
- 12 ABAB beA · meetB · decreeA · sweetB
- 13 ABAB heartA · thineB · partA · mineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Remember him, whom Passion's power | 9 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Severely--deeply--vainly proved: | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Remember thou that dangerous hour, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘/ |
| When neither fell, though both were loved.bx | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| That yielding breast, that melting eye,by | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Too much invited to be blessed: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| That gentle prayer, that pleading sigh, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The wilder wish reproved, repressed. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Oh! let me feel that all I lostbz | 8 | ········ |
| But saved thee all that Conscience fears; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And blush for every pang it cost | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To spare the vain remorse of years. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Yet think of this when many a tongue, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Whose busy accents whisper blame, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Would do the heart that loved thee wrong, | 8 | ········ |
| And brand a nearly blighted name.ca | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Think that, whate'er to others, thou | 9 | ··˘˘/·/˘· |
| Hast seen each selfish thought subdued: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I bless thy purer soul even now, | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Even now, in midnight solitude. | 8 | /··/·/˘· |
| Oh, God! that we had met in time, | 8 | ········ |
| Our hearts as fond, thy hand more free; | 8 | /······· |
| When thou hadst loved without a crime, | 8 | ········ |
| And I been less unworthy thee!cb | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Far may thy days, as heretofore,cc | 10 | ······˘/// |
| From this our gaudy world be past! | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| And that too bitter moment o'er, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Oh! may such trial be thy last. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This heart, alas! perverted long, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Itself destroyed might there destroy; | 8 | ˘/˘/··˘/ |
| To meet thee in the glittering throng, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would wake Presumption's hope of joy.cd | 10 | ··˘/˘···// |
| Then to the things whose bliss or woe, | 8 | ········ |
| Like mine, is wild and worthless all, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That world resign--such scenes forego, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Where those who feel must surely fall. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy youth, thy charms, thy tenderness-- | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Thy soul from long seclusion pure; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| From what even here hath passed, may guess | 8 | ··/····· |
| What there thy bosom must endure. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Oh! pardon that imploring tear, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Since not by Virtue shed in vain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My frenzy drew from eyes so dear; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For me they shall not weep again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though long and mournful must it be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The thought that we no more may meet; | 8 | ········ |
| Yet I deserve the stern decree, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| And almost deem the sentence sweet. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Still--had I loved thee less--my heart | 8 | ········ |
| Had then less sacrificed to thine; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It felt not half so much to part | 8 | ········ |
| As if its guilt had made thee mine. | 8 | ········ |
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