Oh! Droop Thou Not
“They sin who tell us love can die!With life all other passions fly--All others are but vanity.In heaven ambition cannot dwell,Nor avarice in the vaults of hell;Earthly these passions, as of earth--They perish where they drew their birth.But love is indestructible!Its holy flame for ever burneth--From heaven it came, to heaven returneth.” Southey.
Oh! droop thou not, my gentle earthly love!Mine still to be!I bore through death, to brighter lands above,My thoughts of thee.
Yes! the deep memory of our holy tears,Our mingled prayer,Our suffering love, through long devoted years,Went with me there.
It was not vain, the hallow’d and the tried--It was not vain!Still, though unseen, still hovering at thy side,I watch again!
From our own paths, our love’s attesting bowers,I am not gone;In the deep calm of midnight’s whispering hours,Thou art not lone:
Not lone, when by the haunted stream thou weepest--That stream whose toneMurmurs of thoughts, the richest and the deepest,We two have known:
Not lone, when mournfully some strain awakingOf days long past,From thy soft eyes the sudden tears are breaking,Silent and fast:
Not lone, when upwards in fond visions turningThy dreamy glance,Thou seek’st my home, where solemn stars are burningO’er night’s expanse.
My home is near thee, loved one! and around thee,Where’er thou art;Though still mortality’s thick cloud hath bound thee,Doubt not thy heart!
Hear its low voice, nor deem thyself forsaken:Let faith be givenTo the still tones which oft our being waken--They are of heaven.
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- hallow v. t.
- To make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate; to treat or keep as sacred; to reverence. [OE. halowen, halwien, halgien, AS. halgian, fr. halig holy. See Holy.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Oh! Droop Thou Not is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Oh! Droop Thou Not, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/oh-droop-thou-not.html, id L19627.
Form and metre
Oh! Droop Thou Not is 46 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 10 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 AA-BBCCBC- dieA · flyA · vanity · dwellB · hellB · earthC · birthC · indestructibleB · burnethC · southey
- 2 ABAB loveA · beB · aboveA · theeB
- 3 ABAB tearsA · prayerB · yearsA · thereB
- 4 ABAB triedA · vainB · sideA · againB
- 5 A-A- bowersA · gone · hoursA · lone
- 6 -A-A weepest · toneA · deepest · knownA
- 7 ABAB awakingA · pastB · breakingA · fastB
- 8 ABAB turningA · glanceB · burningA · expanseB
- 9 ABAB theeA · artB · theeA · heartB
- 10 A-A- forsakenA · given · wakenA · heaven
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “They sin who tell us love can die! | 8 | ········ |
| With life all other passions fly-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| All others are but vanity. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| In heaven ambition cannot dwell, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Nor avarice in the vaults of hell; | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Earthly these passions, as of earth-- | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| They perish where they drew their birth. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But love is indestructible! | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Its holy flame for ever burneth-- | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| From heaven it came, to heaven returneth.” Southey. | 11 | ·/···/˘/˘·· |
| Oh! droop thou not, my gentle earthly love! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Mine still to be! | 4 | ···· |
| I bore through death, to brighter lands above, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| My thoughts of thee. | 4 | ···· |
| Yes! the deep memory of our holy tears, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| Our mingled prayer, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Our suffering love, through long devoted years, | 10 | //˘···˘/˘· |
| Went with me there. | 4 | ···· |
| It was not vain, the hallow’d and the tried-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| It was not vain! | 4 | ···· |
| Still, though unseen, still hovering at thy side, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| I watch again! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| From our own paths, our love’s attesting bowers, | 11 | ·/··/·˘/˘/˘ |
| I am not gone; | 4 | ···· |
| In the deep calm of midnight’s whispering hours, | 10 | ·····/·/˘/ |
| Thou art not lone: | 4 | ···· |
| Not lone, when by the haunted stream thou weepest | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| --That stream whose tone | 4 | ···· |
| Murmurs of thoughts, the richest and the deepest, | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| We two have known: | 4 | ···· |
| Not lone, when mournfully some strain awaking | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Of days long past, | 4 | ···· |
| From thy soft eyes the sudden tears are breaking, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Silent and fast: | 4 | /˘·· |
| Not lone, when upwards in fond visions turning | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Thy dreamy glance, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Thou seek’st my home, where solemn stars are burning | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| O’er night’s expanse. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| My home is near thee, loved one! and around thee, | 11 | ··········· |
| Where’er thou art; | 5 | ˘˘/·· |
| Though still mortality’s thick cloud hath bound thee, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Doubt not thy heart! | 4 | ···· |
| Hear its low voice, nor deem thyself forsaken: | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| Let faith be given | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To the still tones which oft our being waken-- | 11 | ······//˘/˘ |
| They are of heaven. | 5 | ···/˘ |
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