Adoration
Who does not feel desire unendingTo solace through his daily strife,With some mysterious Mental Blending,The hungry loneliness of life?
Until, by sudden passion shaken,As terriers shake a rat at play,He finds, all blindly, he has takenThe old, Hereditary way.
Yet, in the moment of communion,The very heart of passion's fire,His spirit spurns the mortal union,"Not this, not this, the Soul's desire!"
Oh You, by whom my life is riven,And reft away from my control,Take back the hours of passion given!Love me one moment from your soul.
Although I once, in ardent fashion,Implored you long to give me this;(In hopes to stem, or stifle, passion)Your hair to touch, your lips to kiss
Now that your gracious self has grantedThe loveliness you hold as naught,I find, alas! not that I wanted--Possession has not stifled Thought.
Desire its aim has only shifted,--Built hopes upon another plan,And I in love for you have driftedBeyond all passion known to man.
Beyond all dreams of soft caressesThe solacing of any kiss,--Beyond the fragrance of your tresses(Once I had sold my soul for this!)
But now I crave no mortal union(Thanks for that sweetness in the past);I need some subtle, strange communion,Some sense that I join you, at last.
Long past the pulse and pain of passion,Long left the limits of all love,--I crave some nearer, fuller fashion,Some unknown way, beyond, above,--
Some infinitely inner fusion,As Wave with Water; Flame with Fire,--Let me dream once the dear delusionThat I am You, Oh, Heart's Desire!
Your kindness lent to my caressesThat beauty you so lightly prize,--The midnight of your sable tresses,The twilight of your shadowed eyes.
Ah, for that gift all thanks are given!Yet, Oh, adored, beyond control,Count all the passionate past forgivenAnd love me once, once, from your soul.
Words in this poem
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- blending n.
- The act of mingling.
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- blindly adv.
- Without sight, discernment, or understanding; without thought, investigation, knowledge, or purpose of one's own.
- reft n.
- A chink; a rift. See Rift. Rom. of R.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- 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.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Adoration is in the public domain. This text is taken from India's Love Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #8197; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Laurence Hope, Adoration, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/adoration.html, id L22613.
Form and metre
Adoration is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB unendingA · strifeB · blendingA · lifeB
- 2 ABAB shakenA · playB · takenA · wayB
- 3 ABAB communionA · fireB · unionA · desireB
- 4 ABAB rivenA · controlB · givenA · soulB
- 5 ABAB fashionA · thisB · passionA · kissB
- 6 -A-A granted · naughtA · wanted · thoughtA
- 7 ABAB shiftedA · planB · driftedA · manB
- 8 ABAB caressesA · kissB · tressesA · thisB
- 9 ABAB unionA · pastB · communionA · lastB
- 10 ABAB passionA · loveB · fashionA · aboveB
- 11 ABAB fusionA · fireB · delusionA · desireB
- 12 ABAB caressesA · prizeB · tressesA · eyesB
- 13 ABAB givenA · controlB · forgivenA · soulB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Who does not feel desire unending | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| To solace through his daily strife, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With some mysterious Mental Blending, | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| The hungry loneliness of life? | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Until, by sudden passion shaken, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| As terriers shake a rat at play, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He finds, all blindly, he has taken | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| The old, Hereditary way. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘· |
| Yet, in the moment of communion, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| The very heart of passion's fire, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| His spirit spurns the mortal union, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| "Not this, not this, the Soul's desire!" | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Oh You, by whom my life is riven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And reft away from my control, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Take back the hours of passion given! | 9 | ···/·/˘/˘ |
| Love me one moment from your soul. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Although I once, in ardent fashion, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Implored you long to give me this; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| (In hopes to stem, or stifle, passion) | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Your hair to touch, your lips to kiss | 8 | ········ |
| Now that your gracious self has granted | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| The loveliness you hold as naught, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| I find, alas! not that I wanted-- | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Possession has not stifled Thought. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Desire its aim has only shifted,-- | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Built hopes upon another plan, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And I in love for you have drifted | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Beyond all passion known to man. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beyond all dreams of soft caresses | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| The solacing of any kiss,-- | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Beyond the fragrance of your tresses | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| (Once I had sold my soul for this!) | 8 | ········ |
| But now I crave no mortal union | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| (Thanks for that sweetness in the past); | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I need some subtle, strange communion, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Some sense that I join you, at last. | 8 | ········ |
| Long past the pulse and pain of passion, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Long left the limits of all love,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I crave some nearer, fuller fashion, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Some unknown way, beyond, above,-- | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Some infinitely inner fusion, | 9 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/˘ |
| As Wave with Water; Flame with Fire,-- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Let me dream once the dear delusion | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| That I am You, Oh, Heart's Desire! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Your kindness lent to my caresses | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| That beauty you so lightly prize,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The midnight of your sable tresses, | 9 | ·/···/˘/˘ |
| The twilight of your shadowed eyes. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Ah, for that gift all thanks are given! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Yet, Oh, adored, beyond control, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Count all the passionate past forgiven | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| And love me once, once, from your soul. | 8 | ········ |
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.