The Gaoler
To be free, to be alone,Is a joy that I have not known.
To a keeper who never sleepsI was given at the hour of birthBy the governors of earth;And so well his watch he keeps,Though I leave no sleight untried,That he will not quit my side.
How often, in bygone years,I have passioned, and sworn with tearsThat I loathed him and all his ways!He is silent; he smiles; he stays.
When I close my eyes at night,His face is my latest sight.That dark face is mine own!He walks in my dreams at will;When I wake, he is with me still.To be free, to be alone,Is a joy that I have not known.
I have cried to the winds, the sea,“Oh, help me, for ye are free!”I have thought to escape away,But his hand on my shoulder lay.
From the hills and the lifting starsHe has borne me back to bars;With the spell of my murmured nameHe has captived and kept me tame.
It is whispered that he and IIn a single hour shall die,As we were born, ’tis said,I shall lie in selfless peace;For him, too, is surcease,Rest, and a quiet bed.Self bindeth not the dead.
Somewhat otherwise I believe;For a hope is astir in meThat when consciousness one day fillsWith a splendour I scarce conceive,--More than the winds and sea,More than the stars and hills,--I indeed shall escape awayForever in that great day;I shall have no heed to giveUnto aught that would call me back:He shall pass like the sunrise rack,He shall vanish; but I shall live!
Words in this poem
- sleight n.
- Cunning; craft; artful practice. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl (for sl) slyness, cunning, fr. sl (for sl) sly, cunning. See Sly.]
- bygone n.
- Something gone by or past; a past event.
- 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,]
- selfless a.
- Having no regard to self; unselfish.
- surcease v. t.
- To cause to cease; to end.
- astir adv.
- Stirring; in a state of activity or motion; out of bed. [Pref. a- + stir.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gaoler is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, The Gaoler, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/the-gaoler.html, id L22053.
Form and metre
The Gaoler is 46 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA aloneA · knownA
- 2 ABBACC sleepsA · birthB · earthB · keepsA · untriedC · sideC
- 3 AABB yearsA · tearsA · waysB · staysB
- 4 AABCCBB nightA · sightA · ownB · willC · stillC · aloneB · knownB
- 5 AABB seaA · freeA · awayB · layB
- 6 AABB starsA · barsA · nameB · tameB
- 7 AABCCBB iA · dieA · saidB · peaceC · surceaseC · bedB · deadB
- 8 ABCABCDDEFFE believeA · meB · fillsC · conceiveA · seaB · hillsC · awayD · dayD · giveE · backF · rackF · liveE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To be free, to be alone, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Is a joy that I have not known. | 8 | ········ |
| To a keeper who never sleeps | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| I was given at the hour of birth | 8 | ··/··/·· |
| By the governors of earth; | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| And so well his watch he keeps, | 7 | ······· |
| Though I leave no sleight untried, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| That he will not quit my side. | 7 | ······· |
| How often, in bygone years, | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| I have passioned, and sworn with tears | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| That I loathed him and all his ways! | 8 | ········ |
| He is silent; he smiles; he stays. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| When I close my eyes at night, | 7 | ······· |
| His face is my latest sight. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| That dark face is mine own! | 6 | ······ |
| He walks in my dreams at will; | 7 | ······· |
| When I wake, he is with me still. | 8 | ········ |
| To be free, to be alone, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Is a joy that I have not known. | 8 | ········ |
| I have cried to the winds, the sea, | 8 | ········ |
| “Oh, help me, for ye are free!” | 7 | ······· |
| I have thought to escape away, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| But his hand on my shoulder lay. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From the hills and the lifting stars | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He has borne me back to bars; | 7 | ······· |
| With the spell of my murmured name | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He has captived and kept me tame. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| It is whispered that he and I | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| In a single hour shall die, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| As we were born, ’tis said, | 6 | ······ |
| I shall lie in selfless peace; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For him, too, is surcease, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Rest, and a quiet bed. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Self bindeth not the dead. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Somewhat otherwise I believe; | 8 | ///˘··˘/ |
| For a hope is astir in me | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That when consciousness one day fills | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| With a splendour I scarce conceive,-- | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| More than the winds and sea, | 6 | ······ |
| More than the stars and hills,-- | 6 | ······ |
| I indeed shall escape away | 8 | ·˘/·˘/˘/ |
| Forever in that great day; | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| I shall have no heed to give | 7 | ······· |
| Unto aught that would call me back: | 8 | ········ |
| He shall pass like the sunrise rack, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| He shall vanish; but I shall live! | 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.