Love's Ghost
Thy house is dark and still: I stand once moreBeside the marble door.It opens as of old: thy pale, pale facePeers thro' the narrow space:Thy hands are mine, thy hands are mine to hold,Just as of old.
"Hush! hush! or God will hear us! Ah, speak lowAs Love spake long ago.""Sweet, sweet, are these thine arms, thy breast, thy hairAssuaging my despair,Assuaging the long thirst, quenching the tearsOf all these years?
"Thy house is deep and still: God cannot hear;Sweet, have no fear!Are not thy cold lips crushed against my kiss?Love gives us this,Not God;" but "Ah," she moans, "God hears us; speak,Speak low, hide cheek on cheek."
Oh then what eager whisperings, hoarded long,Sweeter than any song,What treasured news to tell, what hopes, what fears,Gleaned from the barren years,What raptures wrung from out the heart of pain,What wild farewells again!
Whose pity is this? Ah, quick, one kiss! Once moreCloses the marble door!I grope here in the darkness all alone.Across the cold white stone,Over thy tomb, a sudden starlight gleams:Death gave me this--in dreams.
Words in this poem
- starlight n.
- The light given by the stars.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love's Ghost is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, Love's Ghost, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/love-s-ghost.html, id L21485.
Form and metre
Love's Ghost is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABBCC moreA · doorA · faceB · spaceB · holdC · oldC
- 2 AABBCC lowA · agoA · hairB · despairB · tearsC · yearsC
- 3 AABBCC hearA · fearA · kissB · thisB · speakC · cheekC
- 4 AABBCC longA · songA · fearsB · yearsB · painC · againC
- 5 AABBCC moreA · doorA · aloneB · stoneB · gleamsC · dreamsC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thy house is dark and still: I stand once more | 10 | ·········· |
| Beside the marble door. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| It opens as of old: thy pale, pale face | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Peers thro' the narrow space: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy hands are mine, thy hands are mine to hold, | 10 | ·········· |
| Just as of old. | 4 | ···· |
| "Hush! hush! or God will hear us! Ah, speak low | 10 | ·········· |
| As Love spake long ago." | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "Sweet, sweet, are these thine arms, thy breast, thy hair | 10 | ·········· |
| Assuaging my despair, | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| Assuaging the long thirst, quenching the tears | 10 | ˘/˘···/˘·· |
| Of all these years? | 4 | ···· |
| "Thy house is deep and still: God cannot hear; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Sweet, have no fear! | 4 | ···· |
| Are not thy cold lips crushed against my kiss? | 10 | ·········· |
| Love gives us this, | 4 | ···· |
| Not God;" but "Ah," she moans, "God hears us; speak, | 10 | ·········· |
| Speak low, hide cheek on cheek." | 6 | ······ |
| Oh then what eager whisperings, hoarded long, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Sweeter than any song, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| What treasured news to tell, what hopes, what fears, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Gleaned from the barren years, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What raptures wrung from out the heart of pain, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What wild farewells again! | 6 | ···/˘/ |
| Whose pity is this? Ah, quick, one kiss! Once more | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Closes the marble door! | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| I grope here in the darkness all alone. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Across the cold white stone, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Over thy tomb, a sudden starlight gleams: | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Death gave me this--in dreams. | 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.