Back to the Border
The tremulous morning is breakingAgainst the white waste of the sky,And hundreds of birds are awakingIn tamarisk bushes hard by.I, waiting alone in the station,Can hear in the distance, grey-blue,The sound of that iron desolation,The train that will bear me from you.
'T will carry me under your casement,You'll feel in your dreams as you lieThe quiver, from gable to basement,The rush of my train sweeping by.And I shall look out as I pass it,--Your dear, unforgettable door,'T was ours till last night, but alas! itWill never be mine any more.
Through twilight blue-grey and uncertain,Where frost leaves the window-pane free,I'll look at the tinsel-edged curtainThat hid so much pleasure for me.I go to my long undone dutyAlone in the chill and the gloom,My eyes are still full of the beautyI leave in your rose-scented room.
Lie still in your dreams; for your tressesAre free of my lingering kiss.I keep you awake with caressesNo longer; be happy in this!From passion you told me you hatedYou're now and for ever set free,I pass in my train, sorrow-weighted,Your house that was Heaven to me.
You won't find a trace, when you waken,Of me or my love of the past,Rise up and rejoice! I have takenMy longed-for departure at last.My fervent and useless persistenceYou never need suffer again,Nor even perceive in the distanceThe smoke of my vanishing train!
Words in this poem
- desolation n.
- The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation. [F. désolation, L. desolatio.]
- casement n.
- A window sash opening on hinges affixed to the upright side of the frame into which it is fitted. (Poetically) A window. [Shortened fr. encasement. See Incase 1st Case, and cf. Incasement.]
- gable n.
- A cable. Chapman.
- 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,]
- unforgettable a.
- Not forgettable; enduring in memory.
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- departure n.
- Division; separation; putting away. [From Depart.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Back to the Border 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, Back to the Border, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/back-to-the-border.html, id L22619.
Form and metre
Back to the Border is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCD breakingA · skyB · awakingA · byB · stationC · blueD · desolationC · youD
- 2 ABABCDCD casementA · lieB · basementA · byB · itC · doorD · itC · moreD
- 3 ABABCDCD uncertainA · freeB · curtainA · meB · dutyC · gloomD · beautyC · roomD
- 4 ABABCDCD tressesA · kissB · caressesA · thisB · hatedC · freeD · weightedC · meD
- 5 ABABCDCD wakenA · pastB · takenA · lastB · persistenceC · againD · distanceC · trainD
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The tremulous morning is breaking | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| Against the white waste of the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| And hundreds of birds are awaking | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| In tamarisk bushes hard by. | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| I, waiting alone in the station, | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| Can hear in the distance, grey-blue, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The sound of that iron desolation, | 9 | ····/·˘/˘ |
| The train that will bear me from you. | 8 | ········ |
| 'T will carry me under your casement, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| You'll feel in your dreams as you lie | 8 | ········ |
| The quiver, from gable to basement, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| The rush of my train sweeping by. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And I shall look out as I pass it,-- | 9 | ········· |
| Your dear, unforgettable door, | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| 'T was ours till last night, but alas! it | 10 | ··/····˘/· |
| Will never be mine any more. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Through twilight blue-grey and uncertain, | 9 | ·/····˘/˘ |
| Where frost leaves the window-pane free, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| I'll look at the tinsel-edged curtain | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| That hid so much pleasure for me. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| I go to my long undone duty | 9 | ·····˘//˘ |
| Alone in the chill and the gloom, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| My eyes are still full of the beauty | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| I leave in your rose-scented room. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lie still in your dreams; for your tresses | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Are free of my lingering kiss. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| I keep you awake with caresses | 9 | ···˘/·˘/˘ |
| No longer; be happy in this! | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| From passion you told me you hated | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| You're now and for ever set free, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| I pass in my train, sorrow-weighted, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Your house that was Heaven to me. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| You won't find a trace, when you waken, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of me or my love of the past, | 8 | ········ |
| Rise up and rejoice! I have taken | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| My longed-for departure at last. | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| My fervent and useless persistence | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| You never need suffer again, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Nor even perceive in the distance | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| The smoke of my vanishing train! | 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.