More Strong than Time
Since I have set my lips to your full cup, my sweet,Since I my pallid face between your hands have laid,Since I have known your soul, and all the bloom of it,And all the perfume rare, now buried in the shade;
Since it was given to me to hear one happy while,The words wherein your heart spoke all its mysteries,Since I have seen you weep, and since I have seen you smile,Your lips upon my lips, and your gaze upon my eyes;
Since I have known upon my forehead glance and gleam,A ray, a single ray, of your star, veiled always,Since I have felt the fall upon my lifetime's stream,Of one rose-petal plucked from the roses of your days;
I now am bold to say to the swift-changing hours,Pass--pass upon your way, for I grow never old.Flee to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers,One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold.
Your flying wings may smite, but they can never spillThe cup fulfilled of love, from which my lips are wet.My heart has far more fire than you have frost to chill,My soul more love than you can make my love forget.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- abysm n.
- An abyss; a gulf. [OF. abisme; F. abime, LL. abyssimus, a superl. of L. abyssus; Gr. Abyss.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
More Strong than Time is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, More Strong than Time, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/more-strong-than-time.html, id L26762.
Form and metre
More Strong than Time is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
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 sweetA · laidB · itA · shadeB
- 2 ABAB whileA · mysteriesB · smileA · eyesB
- 3 ABAB gleamA · alwaysB · streamA · daysB
- 4 ABAB hoursA · oldB · flowersA · holdB
- 5 ABAB spillA · wetB · chillA · forgetB
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 alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Since I have set my lips to your full cup, my sweet, | 12 | ············ |
| Since I my pallid face between your hands have laid, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Since I have known your soul, and all the bloom of it, | 12 | ············ |
| And all the perfume rare, now buried in the shade; | 12 | ···˘/··/˘··· |
| Since it was given to me to hear one happy while, | 12 | ···/·····/˘· |
| The words wherein your heart spoke all its mysteries, | 12 | ·········/˘˘ |
| Since I have seen you weep, and since I have seen you smile, | 13 | ············· |
| Your lips upon my lips, and your gaze upon my eyes; | 13 | ············· |
| Since I have known upon my forehead glance and gleam, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| A ray, a single ray, of your star, veiled always, | 12 | ···/˘·····/· |
| Since I have felt the fall upon my lifetime's stream, | 12 | ·········/·· |
| Of one rose-petal plucked from the roses of your days; | 13 | ···/˘···/˘··· |
| I now am bold to say to the swift-changing hours, | 13 | ·········/˘/˘ |
| Pass--pass upon your way, for I grow never old. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Flee to the dark abysm with all your fading flowers, | 13 | ····˘/···/˘/˘ |
| One rose that none may pluck, within my heart I hold. | 12 | ············ |
| Your flying wings may smite, but they can never spill | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| The cup fulfilled of love, from which my lips are wet. | 12 | ··˘/········ |
| My heart has far more fire than you have frost to chill, | 12 | ·····/······ |
| My soul more love than you can make my love forget. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
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.