When I Remember
When I remember that the day will comeFor this our love to quit his land of birth,And bid farewell to all the ways of earthWith lips that must for evermore be dumb,
Then creep I silent from the stirring hum,And shut away the music and the mirth,And reckon up what may be left of worthWhen hearts are cold and love's own body numb.
Something there must be that I know not here,Or know too dimly through the symbol dear;Some touch, some beauty, only guessed by this--If He that made us loves, it shall replace,Beloved, even the vision of thy faceAnd deep communion of thine inmost kiss.
Words in this poem
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- 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,]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When I Remember is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry John Newbolt, When I Remember, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/when-i-remember.html, id L11440.
Form and metre
When I Remember is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 29% 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 ABBA comeA · birthB · earthB · dumbA
- 2 ABBA humA · mirthB · worthB · numbA
- 3 AABCCB hereA · dearA · thisB · replaceC · faceC · kissB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I remember that the day will come | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| For this our love to quit his land of birth, | 10 | ··/······· |
| And bid farewell to all the ways of earth | 10 | ···/······ |
| With lips that must for evermore be dumb, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Then creep I silent from the stirring hum, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And shut away the music and the mirth, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And reckon up what may be left of worth | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When hearts are cold and love's own body numb. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Something there must be that I know not here, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Or know too dimly through the symbol dear; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Some touch, some beauty, only guessed by this-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| If He that made us loves, it shall replace, | 10 | ·········/ |
| Beloved, even the vision of thy face | 10 | ˘//˘·/˘··· |
| And deep communion of thine inmost kiss. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
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.