Terre Promise
Even now the fragrant darkness of her hairHad brushed my cheek; and once, in passing by,Her hand upon my hand lay tranquilly:What things unspoken trembled in the air!
Always I know, how little severs meFrom mine heart's country, that is yet so far;And must I lean and long across a bar,That half a word would shatter utterly?
Ah might it be, that just by touch of hand,Or speaking silence, shall the barrier fall;And she shall pass, with no vain words at all,But droop into mine arms, and understand!
Words in this poem
- tranquilly adv.
- In a tranquil manner; calmly.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Terre Promise 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, Terre Promise, in The Poems of Ernest Dowson (1896–1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8497, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dowson-poems/terre-promise.html, id L01640.
Form and metre
Terre Promise is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 hairA · by · tranquilly · airA
- 2 -AA- me · farA · barA · utterly
- 3 ABBA handA · fallB · allB · understandA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Even now the fragrant darkness of her hair | 10 | /··/˘/˘··· |
| Had brushed my cheek; and once, in passing by, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Her hand upon my hand lay tranquilly: | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| What things unspoken trembled in the air! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Always I know, how little severs me | 10 | /····/˘/˘· |
| From mine heart's country, that is yet so far; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And must I lean and long across a bar, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| That half a word would shatter utterly? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Ah might it be, that just by touch of hand, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or speaking silence, shall the barrier fall; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And she shall pass, with no vain words at all, | 10 | ·········· |
| But droop into mine arms, and understand! | 10 | ········˘/ |
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.