Rejected
‘PERHAPS she’s dancing somewhere now!’The thoughts of light and music wakeSharp jealousies, that grow and growTill silence and the darkness ache.He sees her step, so proud and gay,Which, ere he spake, foretold despair:Thus did she look, on such a day,And such the fashion of her hair;And thus she stood, when, kneeling low,He took the bramble from her dress,And thus she laugh’d and talk’d, whose ‘No’Was sweeter than another’s ‘Yes.’He feeds on thoughts that most deject;He impudently feigns her charms,So reverenced in his own respect,Dreadfully clasp’d by other arms;And turns, and puts his brows, that ache,Against the pillow where ’tis cold.If, only now his heart would break!But, oh, how much a heart can hold.
Words in this poem
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- bramble n.
- Any plant of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. [OE. brembil, AS.brbramal), fr. the same root as E. broom, As. br. See Broom.]
- dreadfully adv.
- In a dreadful manner; terribly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rejected 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, Rejected, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/rejected.html, id L12291.
Form and metre
Rejected is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 10% 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 -ABACDCDBEBEFGFGAHAH now · wakeA · growB · acheA · gayC · despairD · dayC · hairD · lowB · dressE · noB · yesE · dejectF · charmsG · respectF · armsG · acheA · coldH · breakA · holdH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ‘PERHAPS she’s dancing somewhere now!’ | 8 | ˘/·/˘/·· |
| The thoughts of light and music wake | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sharp jealousies, that grow and grow | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Till silence and the darkness ache. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He sees her step, so proud and gay, | 8 | ········ |
| Which, ere he spake, foretold despair: | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Thus did she look, on such a day, | 8 | ········ |
| And such the fashion of her hair; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And thus she stood, when, kneeling low, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He took the bramble from her dress, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And thus she laugh’d and talk’d, whose ‘No’ | 8 | ········ |
| Was sweeter than another’s ‘Yes.’ | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| He feeds on thoughts that most deject; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He impudently feigns her charms, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘··· |
| So reverenced in his own respect, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Dreadfully clasp’d by other arms; | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| And turns, and puts his brows, that ache, | 8 | ········ |
| Against the pillow where ’tis cold. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| If, only now his heart would break! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But, oh, how much a heart can hold. | 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.