Libera Me
Goddess the laughter-loving, Aphrodite, befriend!Long have I served thine altars, serve me now at the end,Let me have peace of thee, truce of thee, golden one, send.
Heart of my heart have I offered thee, pain of my pain,Yielding my life for the love of thee into thy chain;Lady and goddess be merciful, loose me again.
All things I had that were fairest, my dearest and best,Fed the fierce flames on thine altar: ah, surely, my breastShrined thee alone among goddesses, spurning the rest.
Blossom of youth thou hast plucked of me, flower of my days;Stinted I nought in thine honouring, walked in thy ways,Song of my soul pouring out to thee, all in thy praise.
Fierce was the flame while it lasted, and strong was thy wine,Meet for immortals that die not, for throats such as thine,Too fierce for bodies of mortals, too potent for mine.
Blossom and bloom hast thou taken, now render to meAshes of life that remain to me, few though they be,Truce of the love of thee, Cyprian, let me go free.
Goddess the laughter-loving, Aphrodite, restoreLife to the limbs of me, liberty, hold me no moreHaving the first-fruits and flower of me, cast me the core.
Words in this poem
- aphrodite n.
- The Greek goddess of love, corresponding to the Venus of the Romans.
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Libera Me is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons, Project Gutenberg ebook #8497; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ernest Dowson, Libera Me, in The Poems of Ernest Dowson (1896–1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8497, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dowson-poems/libera-me.html, id L01688.
Form and metre
Libera Me is 21 lines in 7 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines. 83% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.8 syllables. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AAA befriendA · endA · sendA
- 2 AAA painA · chainA · againA
- 3 AAA bestA · breastA · restA
- 4 AAA daysA · waysA · praiseA
- 5 AAA wineA · thineA · mineA
- 6 AAA meA · beA · freeA
- 7 AAA restoreA · moreA · coreA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Goddess the laughter-loving, Aphrodite, befriend! | 13 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/˘˘/ |
| Long have I served thine altars, serve me now at the end, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Let me have peace of thee, truce of thee, golden one, send. | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| Heart of my heart have I offered thee, pain of my pain, | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| Yielding my life for the love of thee into thy chain; | 13 | /˘··········· |
| Lady and goddess be merciful, loose me again. | 13 | /˘·/˘·/˘˘··˘/ |
| All things I had that were fairest, my dearest and best, | 13 | ······/˘·/˘·· |
| Fed the fierce flames on thine altar: ah, surely, my breast | 13 | ······/˘·/˘·· |
| Shrined thee alone among goddesses, spurning the rest. | 13 | ··˘/··/˘˘/˘·· |
| Blossom of youth thou hast plucked of me, flower of my days; | 13 | /˘·······/··· |
| Stinted I nought in thine honouring, walked in thy ways, | 13 | /˘····/˘˘···· |
| Song of my soul pouring out to thee, all in thy praise. | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| Fierce was the flame while it lasted, and strong was thy wine, | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| Meet for immortals that die not, for throats such as thine, | 13 | ··˘/˘········ |
| Too fierce for bodies of mortals, too potent for mine. | 13 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Blossom and bloom hast thou taken, now render to me | 13 | /˘····/˘·/˘·· |
| Ashes of life that remain to me, few though they be, | 13 | /˘···˘/······ |
| Truce of the love of thee, Cyprian, let me go free. | 13 | ······/˘˘···· |
| Goddess the laughter-loving, Aphrodite, restore | 13 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/˘˘/ |
| Life to the limbs of me, liberty, hold me no more | 13 | ······/˘˘···· |
| Having the first-fruits and flower of me, cast me the core. | 13 | /˘····/······ |
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