Memory and I
“O MEMORY, where is now my youth,Who used to say that life was truth?”
“I saw him in a crumbled cotBeneath a tottering tree;That he as phantom lingers thereIs only known to me.”
“O Memory, where is now my joy,Who lived with me in sweet employ?”
“I saw him in gaunt gardens lone,Where laughter used to be;That he as phantom wanders thereIs known to none but me.”
“O Memory, where is now my hope,Who charged with deeds my skill and scope?”
“I saw her in a tomb of tomes,Where dreams are wont to be;That she as spectre haunteth thereIs only known to me.”
“O Memory, where is now my faith,One time a champion, now a wraith?”
“I saw her in a ravaged aisle,Bowed down on bended knee;That her poor ghost outflickers thereIs known to none but me.”
“O Memory, where is now my love,That rayed me as a god above?”
“I saw him by an ageing shapeWhere beauty used to be;That his fond phantom lingers thereIs only known to me.”
LONG have I framed weak phantasies of Thee,O Willer masked and dumb!Who makest Life become,—As though by labouring all-unknowingly,Like one whom reveries numb.
How much of consciousness informs Thy willThy biddings, as if blind,Of death-inducing kind,Nought shows to us ephemeral ones who fillBut moments in Thy mind.
Perhaps Thy ancient rote-restricted waysThy ripening rule transcends;That listless effort tendsTo grow percipient with advance of days,And with percipience mends.
For, in unwonted purlieus, far and nigh,At whiles or short or long,May be discerned a wrongDying as of self-slaughter; whereat IWould raise my voice in song.
Words in this poem
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- 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.]
- wraith n.
- An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a specter; a vision; an unreal image. [Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a guardian angel, from Icel. vörthr a warden, guardian, akin to E. ward. See Ward a guard.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- rote v. t.
- To learn or repeat by rote.
- listless a.
- Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless. [OE. listles, lustles. See Lust.]
- percipient a.
- Having the faculty of perception; perceiving; as, a percipient being. Bentley. [L. percipiens, -entis, p.pr. of percipere. See Perceive.]
- percipience n.
- The faculty, act or power of perceiving; perception. Mrs.
- unwonted a.
- Not wonted; unaccustomed; unused; not made familiar by practice; as, a child unwonted to strangers.
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Memory and I is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of the Past and the Present, Project Gutenberg ebook #3168; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, Memory and I, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/memory-and-i.html, id L18610.
Form and metre
Memory and I is 50 lines in 14 stanzas. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 youthA · truthA
- 2 -A-A cot · treeA · there · meA
- 3 AA joyA · employA
- 4 -A-A lone · beA · there · meA
- 5 AA hopeA · scopeA
- 6 -A-A tomes · beA · there · meA
- 7 AA faithA · wraithA
- 8 -A-A aisle · kneeA · there · meA
- 9 AA loveA · aboveA
- 10 -A-A shape · beA · there · meA
- 11 -AA-A thee · dumbA · becomeA · unknowingly · numbA
- 12 ABBAB willA · blindB · kindB · fillA · mindB
- 13 ABBAB waysA · transcendsB · tendsB · daysA · mendsB
- 14 ABBAB nighA · longB · wrongB · iA · songB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “O MEMORY, where is now my youth, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who used to say that life was truth?” | 8 | ········ |
| “I saw him in a crumbled cot | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath a tottering tree; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| That he as phantom lingers there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is only known to me.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “O Memory, where is now my joy, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who lived with me in sweet employ?” | 8 | ······˘/ |
| “I saw him in gaunt gardens lone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where laughter used to be; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That he as phantom wanders there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is known to none but me.” | 6 | ······ |
| “O Memory, where is now my hope, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who charged with deeds my skill and scope?” | 8 | ········ |
| “I saw her in a tomb of tomes, | 8 | ········ |
| Where dreams are wont to be; | 6 | ······ |
| That she as spectre haunteth there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is only known to me.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “O Memory, where is now my faith, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| One time a champion, now a wraith?” | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “I saw her in a ravaged aisle, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bowed down on bended knee; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That her poor ghost outflickers there | 8 | ········ |
| Is known to none but me.” | 6 | ······ |
| “O Memory, where is now my love, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That rayed me as a god above?” | 8 | ········ |
| “I saw him by an ageing shape | 8 | ········ |
| Where beauty used to be; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That his fond phantom lingers there | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is only known to me.” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| LONG have I framed weak phantasies of Thee, | 9 | ········· |
| O Willer masked and dumb! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who makest Life become,— | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As though by labouring all-unknowingly, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Like one whom reveries numb. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| How much of consciousness informs Thy will | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| Thy biddings, as if blind, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of death-inducing kind, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Nought shows to us ephemeral ones who fill | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| But moments in Thy mind. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Perhaps Thy ancient rote-restricted ways | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Thy ripening rule transcends; | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| That listless effort tends | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| To grow percipient with advance of days, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And with percipience mends. | 6 | ······ |
| For, in unwonted purlieus, far and nigh, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| At whiles or short or long, | 6 | ······ |
| May be discerned a wrong | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Dying as of self-slaughter; whereat I | 10 | /˘···/˘˘/· |
| Would raise my voice in song. | 6 | ······ |
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