Silence
SINCE I lost you I am silence-haunted,Sounds wave their little wingsA moment, then in weariness settleOn the flood that soundless swings.
Whether the people in the streetLike pattering ripples go by,Or whether the theatre sighs and sighsWith a loud, hoarse sigh:
Or the wind shakes a ravel of lightOver the dead-black river,Or night's last echoingMakes the daybreak shiver:
I feel the silence waitingTo take them all up againIn its vast completeness, enfoldingThe sound of men.
Words in this poem
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- theatre n.
- An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed. [F. thé\'83tre, L. theatrum, Gr. dhya to meditate, think. Cf. Theory.]
- ravel v. t.
- To separate or undo the texture of; to take apart; to untwist; to unweave or unknit; -- often followed by out; as, to ravel a twist; to ravel out a sticking. [. ravelen, D. rafelen, akin to LG. rebeln, rebbeln, reffeln.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Silence is in the public domain. This text is taken from Amores: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22531; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: D. H. Lawrence, Silence, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/silence.html, id L13575.
Form and metre
Silence is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 56% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A-A haunted · wingsA · settle · swingsA
- 2 -A-A street · byA · sighs · sighA
- 3 -A-A light · riverA · echoing · shiverA
- 4 -A-A waiting · againA · enfolding · menA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SINCE I lost you I am silence-haunted, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Sounds wave their little wings | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A moment, then in weariness settle | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| On the flood that soundless swings. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Whether the people in the street | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like pattering ripples go by, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Or whether the theatre sighs and sighs | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| With a loud, hoarse sigh: | 5 | ····· |
| Or the wind shakes a ravel of light | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Over the dead-black river, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or night's last echoing | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Makes the daybreak shiver: | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| I feel the silence waiting | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To take them all up again | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| In its vast completeness, enfolding | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| The sound of men. | 4 | ···· |
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.