My Romance
If it so befalls that the midnight hoversIn mist no moonlight breaks,The leagues of the years my spirit covers,And my self myself forsakes.
And I live in a land of stars and flowers,White cliffs by a silvery sea;And the pearly points of her opal towersFrom the mountains beckon me.
And I think that I know that I hear her callingFrom a casement bathed with light--Through music of waters in waters fallingMid palms from a mountain height.
And I feel that I think my love's awaitedBy the romance of her charms;That her feet are early and mine belatedIn a world that chains my arms.
But I break my chains and the rest is easy--In the shadow of the rose,Snow-white, that blooms in her garden breezy,We meet and no one knows.
And we dream sweet dreams and kiss sweet kisses;The world--it may live or die!The world that forgets; that never missesThe life that has long gone by.
We speak old vows that have long been spoken;And weep a long-gone woe:For you must know our hearts were brokenHundreds of years ago.
Words in this poem
- beckon v. t.
- To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
- belated a.
- Delayed beyond the usual time; too late; overtaken by night; benighted.
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My Romance is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, My Romance, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/my-romance.html, id L10943.
Form and metre
My Romance is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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- hoversA · breaks · coversA · forsakes
- 2 ABAB flowersA · seaB · towersA · meB
- 3 -A-A calling · lightA · falling · heightA
- 4 ABAB awaitedA · charmsB · belatedA · armsB
- 5 ABAB easyA · roseB · breezyA · knowsB
- 6 ABAB kissesA · dieB · missesA · byB
- 7 ABAB spokenA · woeB · brokenA · agoB
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 it so befalls that the midnight hovers | 11 | ···˘/··/·/˘ |
| In mist no moonlight breaks, | 6 | ···/·· |
| The leagues of the years my spirit covers, | 9 | ······//˘ |
| And my self myself forsakes. | 7 | ····/˘/ |
| And I live in a land of stars and flowers, | 10 | ·········/ |
| White cliffs by a silvery sea; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And the pearly points of her opal towers | 10 | ··/˘···/˘/ |
| From the mountains beckon me. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And I think that I know that I hear her calling | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| From a casement bathed with light-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Through music of waters in waters falling | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Mid palms from a mountain height. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And I feel that I think my love's awaited | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| By the romance of her charms; | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| That her feet are early and mine belated | 11 | ····/˘··˘/˘ |
| In a world that chains my arms. | 7 | ······· |
| But I break my chains and the rest is easy-- | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| In the shadow of the rose, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Snow-white, that blooms in her garden breezy, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| We meet and no one knows. | 6 | ······ |
| And we dream sweet dreams and kiss sweet kisses; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| The world--it may live or die! | 7 | ······· |
| The world that forgets; that never misses | 9 | ···˘/·//˘ |
| The life that has long gone by. | 7 | ······· |
| We speak old vows that have long been spoken; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And weep a long-gone woe: | 6 | ······ |
| For you must know our hearts were broken | 9 | ····/··/˘ |
| Hundreds of years ago. | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
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.