Denied
The storm-cloud, whose portentous shadeFumes from a core of smother’d fire,His livery is whose worshipp’d maidDenies herself to his desire.Ah, grief that almost crushes life,To lie upon his lonely bed,And fancy her another’s wife!His brain is flame, his heart is lead.Sinking at last, by nature’s course,Cloak’d round with sleep from his despair,He does but sleep to gather forceThat goes to his exhausted care.He wakes renew’d for all the smart.His only Love, and she is wed!His fondness comes about his heart,As milk comes, when the babe is dead.The wretch, whom she found fit for scorn,His own allegiant thoughts despise;And far into the shining mornLazy with misery he lies.
Words in this poem
- portentous a.
- Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. [L. portentosus.]
- fondness n.
- The quality or state of being fond; foolishness.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Denied is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Angel in the House, Project Gutenberg ebook #4099; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Coventry Patmore, Denied, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/denied.html, id L12269.
Form and metre
Denied is 20 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGDGDHIHI. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGDGDHIHI shadeA · fireB · maidA · desireB · lifeC · bedD · wifeC · leadD · courseE · despairF · forceE · careF · smartG · wedD · heartG · deadD · scornH · despiseI · mornH · liesI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The storm-cloud, whose portentous shade | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Fumes from a core of smother’d fire, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| His livery is whose worshipp’d maid | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Denies herself to his desire. | 9 | ˘/˘/··˘/˘ |
| Ah, grief that almost crushes life, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| To lie upon his lonely bed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And fancy her another’s wife! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| His brain is flame, his heart is lead. | 8 | ········ |
| Sinking at last, by nature’s course, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Cloak’d round with sleep from his despair, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He does but sleep to gather force | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That goes to his exhausted care. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| He wakes renew’d for all the smart. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| His only Love, and she is wed! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His fondness comes about his heart, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As milk comes, when the babe is dead. | 8 | ········ |
| The wretch, whom she found fit for scorn, | 8 | ········ |
| His own allegiant thoughts despise; | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| And far into the shining morn | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lazy with misery he lies. | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
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.