The Boon of Memory
I go, I go!--and must mine image fadeFrom the green spots wherein my childhood play’d,By my own streams?Must my life part from each familiar place,As a bird’s song, that leaves the woods no traceOf its lone themes?
Will the friend pass my dwelling, and forgetThe welcomes there, the hours when we have metIn grief or glee?All the sweet counsel, the communion high,The kindly words of trust, in days gone by,Pour’d full and free?
A boon, a talisman, O Memory! give,To shrine my name in hearts where I would liveFor evermore!Bid the wind speak of me where I have dwelt,Bid the stream’s voice, of all my soul hath felt,A thought restore!
In the rich rose, whose bloom I loved so well,In the dim brooding violet of the dell,Set deep that thought;And let the sunset’s melancholy glow,And let the spring’s first whisper, faint and low,With me be fraught!
And Memory answer’d me:--“Wild wish, and vain!I have no hues the loveliest to detainIn the heart’s core.The place they held in bosoms all their own,Soon with new shadows fill’d, new flowers o’ergrown,Is theirs no more.”
Hast thou such power, O Love? And Love replied:--“It is not mine! Pour out thy soul’s full tideOf hope and trust,Prayer, tear, devotedness, that boon to gain--’Tis but to write, with the heart’s fiery rain,Wild words on dust!”
Song, is the gift with thee? I ask a lay,Soft, fervent, deep, that will not pass awayFrom the still breast;Fill’d with a tone--oh! not for deathless fame,But a sweet haunting murmur of my name,Where it would rest.
And Song made answer--“It is not in me,Though call’d immortal; though my gifts may beAll but divine.A place of lonely brightness I can give:A changeless one, where thou with Love wouldst live--This is not mine!”
Death, Death! wilt thou the restless wish fulfil?And Death, the Strong One, spoke:--“I can but stillEach vain regret.What if forgotten?--All thy soul would crave,Thou, too, within the mantle of the grave,Wilt soon forget.”
Then did my heart in lone faint sadness die,As from all nature’s voices one reply,But one--was given.“Earth has no heart, fond dreamer! with a toneTo send thee back the spirit of thine own--Seek it in heaven.”
Words in this poem 15
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
- 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.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- dreamer n.
- One who dreams.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Boon of Memory 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, The Boon of Memory, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/the-boon-of-memory.html, id L19402.
Form and metre
The Boon of Memory is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 AABCCB fadeA · play'dA · streamsB · placeC · traceC · themesB
- 2 AABCCB forgetA · metA · gleeB · highC · byC · freeB
- 3 AABCCB giveA · liveA · evermoreB · dweltC · feltC · restoreB
- 4 AABCCB wellA · dellA · thoughtB · glowC · lowC · fraughtB
- 5 AABCCB vainA · detainA · coreB · ownC · o'ergrownC · moreB
- 6 AABCCB repliedA · tideA · trustB · gainC · rainC · dustB
- 7 AABCCB layA · awayA · breastB · fameC · nameC · restB
- 8 AABCCB meA · beA · divineB · giveC · liveC · mineB
- 9 --ABBA fulfil · still · regretA · craveB · graveB · forgetA
- 10 AABBBB dieA · replyA · givenB · toneB · ownB · heavenB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I go, I go!--and must mine image fade | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From the green spots wherein my childhood play’d, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| By my own streams? | 4 | ···· |
| Must my life part from each familiar place, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| As a bird’s song, that leaves the woods no trace | 10 | ·········· |
| Of its lone themes? | 4 | ···· |
| Will the friend pass my dwelling, and forget | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The welcomes there, the hours when we have met | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| In grief or glee? | 4 | ···· |
| All the sweet counsel, the communion high, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| The kindly words of trust, in days gone by, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Pour’d full and free? | 4 | ···· |
| A boon, a talisman, O Memory! give, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| To shrine my name in hearts where I would live | 10 | ·········· |
| For evermore! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Bid the wind speak of me where I have dwelt, | 10 | ·········· |
| Bid the stream’s voice, of all my soul hath felt, | 10 | ·········· |
| A thought restore! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| In the rich rose, whose bloom I loved so well, | 10 | ·········· |
| In the dim brooding violet of the dell, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Set deep that thought; | 4 | ···· |
| And let the sunset’s melancholy glow, | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘· |
| And let the spring’s first whisper, faint and low, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With me be fraught! | 4 | ···· |
| And Memory answer’d me:--“Wild wish, and vain! | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| I have no hues the loveliest to detain | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| In the heart’s core. | 4 | ···· |
| The place they held in bosoms all their own, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Soon with new shadows fill’d, new flowers o’ergrown, | 10 | ···/···/·· |
| Is theirs no more.” | 4 | ···· |
| Hast thou such power, O Love? And Love replied: | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| --“It is not mine! Pour out thy soul’s full tide | 10 | ·········· |
| Of hope and trust, | 4 | ···· |
| Prayer, tear, devotedness, that boon to gain-- | 10 | ·········· |
| ’Tis but to write, with the heart’s fiery rain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Wild words on dust!” | 4 | ···· |
| Song, is the gift with thee? I ask a lay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Soft, fervent, deep, that will not pass away | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| From the still breast; | 4 | ···· |
| Fill’d with a tone--oh! not for deathless fame, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But a sweet haunting murmur of my name, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Where it would rest. | 4 | ···· |
| And Song made answer--“It is not in me, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Though call’d immortal; though my gifts may be | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| All but divine. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| A place of lonely brightness I can give: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A changeless one, where thou with Love wouldst live-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This is not mine!” | 4 | ···· |
| Death, Death! wilt thou the restless wish fulfil? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And Death, the Strong One, spoke:--“I can but still | 10 | ·········· |
| Each vain regret. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| What if forgotten?--All thy soul would crave, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Thou, too, within the mantle of the grave, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Wilt soon forget.” | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Then did my heart in lone faint sadness die, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As from all nature’s voices one reply, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| But one--was given. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| “Earth has no heart, fond dreamer! with a tone | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To send thee back the spirit of thine own-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Seek it in heaven.” | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.