Regrets

Alice Meynell (1847–1922) · 1893

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 24 lines · from Poems

As, when the seaward ebbing tide doth pourOut by the low sand spaces,The parting waves slip back to clasp the shoreWith lingering embraces,--

So in the tide of life that carries meFrom where thy true heart dwells,Waves of my thoughts and memories turn to theeWith lessening farewells;

Waving of hands; dreams, when the day forgets;A care half lost in cares;The saddest of my verses; dim regrets;Thy name among my prayers.

I would the day might come, so waited for,So patiently besought,When I, returning, should fill up once moreThy desolated thought;

And fill thy loneliness that lies apartIn still, persistent pain.Shall I content thee, O thou broken heart,As the tide comes again,

And brims the little sea-shore lakes, and setsSeaweeds afloat, and fillsThe silent pools, rivers and rivuletsAmong the inland hills?

Words in this poem

seaward a.: Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
patiently adv.: In a patient manner.
loneliness n.: The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
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,]
afloat adv.: Borne on the water; floating; on board ship. [Pref. a- + float.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Regrets is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1186; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Alice Meynell, Regrets, in Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1186, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meynell-poems/regrets.html, id L12864.

Form and metre

Regrets is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

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 pour^A · spaces^B · shore^A · embraces^B
2 ABAB me^A · dwells^B · thee^A · farewells^B
3 ABAB forgets^A · cares^B · regrets^A · prayers^B
4 ABAB for^A · besought^B · more^A · thought^B
5 ABAB apart^A · pain^B · heart^A · again^B
6 ABAB sets^A · fills^B · rivulets^A · hills^B

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 pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
As, when the seaward ebbing tide doth pour	10	···/˘/˘···
Out by the low sand spaces,	7	·····/˘
The parting waves slip back to clasp the shore	10	·/˘·······
With lingering embraces,--	7	·/˘˘˘/˘
So in the tide of life that carries me	10	·······/˘·
From where thy true heart dwells,	6	······
Waves of my thoughts and memories turn to thee	10	·····/˘···
With lessening farewells;	6	·/˘˘·/
Waving of hands; dreams, when the day forgets;	10	/˘······˘/
A care half lost in cares;	6	······
The saddest of my verses; dim regrets;	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Thy name among my prayers.	6	······
I would the day might come, so waited for,	10	·······/˘·
So patiently besought,	6	·/˘˘˘/
When I, returning, should fill up once more	10	··˘/˘·····
Thy desolated thought;	6	·/˘˘˘·
And fill thy loneliness that lies apart	9	···/˘··˘/
In still, persistent pain.	6	··˘/˘·
Shall I content thee, O thou broken heart,	10	··˘/···/˘·
As the tide comes again,	6	····˘/
And brims the little sea-shore lakes, and sets	10	···/˘·····
Seaweeds afloat, and fills	6	/·˘/··
The silent pools, rivers and rivulets	10	·/˘·/˘····
Among the inland hills?	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.

More by Alice Meynell

Poems