Forever
THEY sat together in the sun,And Youth and Hope stood hovering near;Like dropping bell-notes one by oneChimed the glad moments soft and clear;And still amid their happy speechThe lovers whispered each to each,“Forever!”
Youth spread his wings of rainbow light,“Farewell!” he whispered as he went;They heeded not nor mourned his flight,Wrapped in their measureless content;And still they smiled, and still was heardThe confidently uttered word,“Forever!”
Hope stayed, her steadfast smile was sweet,—Until the even-time she stayed;Then with reluctant, noiseless feetShe stole into the solemn shade.A graver shape moved gently by,And bent, and murmured warningly,“Forever!”
And then—where sat the two, sat one!No voice spoke back, no glance replied.Behind her, where she rested lone,Hovered the spectre, solemn-eyed;She met his look without a thrill,And, smiling faintly, whispered still,“Forever!”
Oh, sweet, sweet Youth! Oh, fading Hope!Oh, eyes by tearful mists made blind!Oh, hands which vainly reach and gropeFor a familiar touch and kind!Time pauseth for no lover’s kiss;Love for its solace has but this,—“Forever!”
Words in this poem
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- measureless a.
- Without measure; unlimited; immeasurable.
- confidently adv.
- With confidence; with strong assurance; positively.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- graver n.
- One who graves; an engraver or a sculptor; one whose occupation is te cut letters or figures in stone or other hard material.
- warningly adv.
- In a warning manner.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- tearful a.
- Abounding with tears; weeping; shedding tears; as, tearful eyes.
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Forever is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Forever, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/forever.html, id L23414.
Form and metre
Forever is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. 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 ABABCC- sunA · nearB · oneA · clearB · speechC · eachC · forever
- 2 ABABCC- lightA · wentB · flightA · contentB · heardC · wordC · forever
- 3 ABAB--- sweetA · stayedB · feetA · shadeB · by · warningly · forever
- 4 -A-ABB- one · repliedA · lone · eyedA · thrillB · stillB · forever
- 5 ABABCC- hopeA · blindB · gropeA · kindB · kissC · thisC · forever
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 |
|---|---|---|
| THEY sat together in the sun, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And Youth and Hope stood hovering near; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Like dropping bell-notes one by one | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Chimed the glad moments soft and clear; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And still amid their happy speech | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The lovers whispered each to each, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| “Forever!” | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Youth spread his wings of rainbow light, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| “Farewell!” he whispered as he went; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| They heeded not nor mourned his flight, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wrapped in their measureless content; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| And still they smiled, and still was heard | 8 | ········ |
| The confidently uttered word, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| “Forever!” | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Hope stayed, her steadfast smile was sweet,— | 8 | ···/···· |
| Until the even-time she stayed; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then with reluctant, noiseless feet | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| She stole into the solemn shade. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A graver shape moved gently by, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And bent, and murmured warningly, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| “Forever!” | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| And then—where sat the two, sat one! | 8 | ········ |
| No voice spoke back, no glance replied. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Behind her, where she rested lone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hovered the spectre, solemn-eyed; | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| She met his look without a thrill, | 8 | ········ |
| And, smiling faintly, whispered still, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| “Forever!” | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Oh, sweet, sweet Youth! Oh, fading Hope! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oh, eyes by tearful mists made blind! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Oh, hands which vainly reach and grope | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For a familiar touch and kind! | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Time pauseth for no lover’s kiss; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Love for its solace has but this,— | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “Forever!” | 3 | ˘/˘ |
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.