Famine Song
Death and Famine on every sideAnd never a sign of rain,The bones of those who have starved and diedUnburied upon the plain.What care have I that the bones bleach white?To-morrow they may be mine,But I shall sleep in your arms to-nightAnd drink your lips like wine!
Cholera, Riot, and Sudden Death,And the brave red blood set free,The glazing eye and the failing breath,--But what are these things to me?Your breath is quick and your eyes are brightAnd your blood is red like wine,And I shall sleep in your arms to-nightAnd hold your lips with mine!
I hear the sound of a thousand tears,Like softly pattering rain,I see the fever, folly, and fearsFulfilling man's tale of pain.But for the moment your star is bright,I revel beneath its shine,For I shall sleep in your arms to-nightAnd feel your lips on mine!
And you need not deem me over cold,That I do not stop to thinkFor all the pleasure this Life may holdIs on the Precipice brink.Thought could but lessen my soul's delight,And to-day she may not pine.For I shall lie in your arms to-nightAnd close your lips with mine!
I trust what sorrow the Fates may sendI may carry quietly through,And pray for grace when I reach the end,To die as a man should do.To-day, at least, must be clear and bright,Without a sorrowful sign,Because I sleep in your arms to-nightAnd feel your lips on mine!
So on I work, in the blazing sun,To bury what dead we may,But glad, oh, glad, when the day is doneAnd the night falls round us grey.Would those we covered away from sightHad a rest as sweet as mine!For I shall sleep in your arms to-nightAnd drink your lips like wine!
Words in this poem
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- 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,]
- 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]
- precipice n.
- A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Famine Song 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, Famine Song, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/famine-song.html, id L22617.
Form and metre
Famine Song is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 ABABCDCD sideA · rainB · diedA · plainB · whiteC · mineD · nightC · wineD
- 2 ABABCDCD deathA · freeB · breathA · meB · brightC · wineD · nightC · mineD
- 3 ABABCDCD tearsA · rainB · fearsA · painB · brightC · shineD · nightC · mineD
- 4 ABABCDCD coldA · thinkB · holdA · brinkB · delightC · pineD · nightC · mineD
- 5 ABABCDCD sendA · throughB · endA · doB · brightC · signD · nightC · mineD
- 6 ABABCDCD sunA · mayB · doneA · greyB · sightC · mineD · nightC · wineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Death and Famine on every side | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| And never a sign of rain, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The bones of those who have starved and died | 9 | ········· |
| Unburied upon the plain. | 6 | ······ |
| What care have I that the bones bleach white? | 9 | ········· |
| To-morrow they may be mine, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But I shall sleep in your arms to-night | 9 | ········· |
| And drink your lips like wine! | 6 | ······ |
| Cholera, Riot, and Sudden Death, | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| And the brave red blood set free, | 7 | ······· |
| The glazing eye and the failing breath,-- | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| But what are these things to me? | 7 | ······· |
| Your breath is quick and your eyes are bright | 9 | ········· |
| And your blood is red like wine, | 7 | ······· |
| And I shall sleep in your arms to-night | 9 | ········· |
| And hold your lips with mine! | 6 | ······ |
| I hear the sound of a thousand tears, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Like softly pattering rain, | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| I see the fever, folly, and fears | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Fulfilling man's tale of pain. | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| But for the moment your star is bright, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I revel beneath its shine, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| For I shall sleep in your arms to-night | 9 | ········· |
| And feel your lips on mine! | 6 | ······ |
| And you need not deem me over cold, | 8 | ········ |
| That I do not stop to think | 7 | ······· |
| For all the pleasure this Life may hold | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Is on the Precipice brink. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Thought could but lessen my soul's delight, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| And to-day she may not pine. | 7 | ······· |
| For I shall lie in your arms to-night | 9 | ········· |
| And close your lips with mine! | 6 | ······ |
| I trust what sorrow the Fates may send | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I may carry quietly through, | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| And pray for grace when I reach the end, | 9 | ········· |
| To die as a man should do. | 7 | ······· |
| To-day, at least, must be clear and bright, | 9 | ········· |
| Without a sorrowful sign, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Because I sleep in your arms to-night | 9 | ········· |
| And feel your lips on mine! | 6 | ······ |
| So on I work, in the blazing sun, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To bury what dead we may, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But glad, oh, glad, when the day is done | 9 | ········· |
| And the night falls round us grey. | 7 | ······· |
| Would those we covered away from sight | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| Had a rest as sweet as mine! | 7 | ······· |
| For I shall sleep in your arms to-night | 9 | ········· |
| And drink your lips like wine! | 6 | ······ |
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.