Poem V
Ah, see what a wonderful smile again!Shall I hide it away in my heart,To remember one day in a world of painWhen the years have torn us apart,Little babe,When the years have torn us apart?
Sleep, my little one, sleep,Child with the wonderful eyes,Wild miraculous eyes,Deep as the skies are deep!What star-bright glory of tearsWaits in you now for the yearsThat shall bid you waken and weep?Ah, in that day, could I kiss you to sleepThen, little lips, little eyes,Little lips that are lovely and wise,Little lips that are dreadful and wise!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem V 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, Poem V, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/poem-v.html, id L21494.
Form and metre
Poem V is 17 lines in 2 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-B againA · heartB · painA · apartB · babe · apartB
- 2 ABBACCAABBB sleepA · eyesB · eyesB · deepA · tearsC · yearsC · weepA · sleepA · eyesB · wiseB · wiseB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ah, see what a wonderful smile again! | 10 | ····/˘˘·˘/ |
| Shall I hide it away in my heart, | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| To remember one day in a world of pain | 11 | ·˘/˘······· |
| When the years have torn us apart, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Little babe, | 3 | /˘· |
| When the years have torn us apart? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Sleep, my little one, sleep, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Child with the wonderful eyes, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Wild miraculous eyes, | 6 | ·˘/˘˘· |
| Deep as the skies are deep! | 6 | ······ |
| What star-bright glory of tears | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Waits in you now for the years | 7 | ······· |
| That shall bid you waken and weep? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Ah, in that day, could I kiss you to sleep | 10 | ·········· |
| Then, little lips, little eyes, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Little lips that are lovely and wise, | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Little lips that are dreadful and wise! | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
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.