The Epitaph
‘At Church, in twelve hours more, we meet!This, Dearest, is our last farewell.’‘Oh, Felix, do you love me?’ ‘Sweet,Why do you ask?’ ‘I cannot tell.’
And was it no vain fantasyThat raised me from the earth with pride?Should I to-morrow verilyBe Bridegroom, and Honoria Bride?Should I, in simple fact, henceforthLive unconditionally lordOf her whose smile for brightest worthSeem’d all too bountiful reward?Incredible life’s promise seem’d,Or, credible, for life too great;Love his own deity blasphemed,And doff’d at last his heavenly state.What law, if man could mount so high,To further insolence set bars,And kept the chaste moon in the sky,And bade him not tread out the stars!
Patience and hope had parted truce,And, sun-like, Love obscured his rayWith dazzling mists, driven up profuseBefore his own triumphant way.I thought with prayer how Jacob paidThe patient price of Rachel; them,Of that calm grace Tobias said,And Sarah’s innocent ‘Amen.’Without avail! O’erwhelming wealth,The wondrous gift of God so near,Which should have been delight and healthMade heart and spirit sick and sere.Until at last the soul of love,That recks not of its own delight,Awoke and bade the mists remove,And then once more I breathed aright;And I rehears’d my marriage vow,And swore her welfare to preferTo all things, and for aye as nowTo live, not for myself, but her.Forth, from the glittering spirit’s peaceAnd gaiety ineffable,Stream’d to the heart delight and ease,As from an overflowing well;And, orderly deriving thenceIts pleasure perfect and allow’d,Bright with the spirit shone the sense,As with the sun a fleecy cloud.If now to part with her could makeHer pleasure greater, sorrow less,I for my epitaph would take‘To serve seem’d more than to possess.’And I perceiv’d, (the vision sweetDimming with happy dew mine eyes),That love and joy are torches litFrom altar-fires of sacrifice.
Across the sky the daylight crept,And birds grew garrulous in the grove,And on my marriage-morn I sleptA soft sleep, undisturb’d by love.
Words in this poem 17
- fantasy n.
- Fancy; imagination; especially, a whimsical or fanciful conception; a vagary of the imagination; whim; caprice; humor. [See Fancy.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- bountiful a.
- Free in giving; liberal in bestowing gifts and favors.
- incredible a.
- Not credible; surpassing belief; too extraordinary and improbable to admit of belief; unlikely; marvelous; fabulous. [L. incredibilis: cf. OF. incredible. See In- not, and Credible.]
- doff v. t.
- To put off, as dress; to divest one's self of; hence, figuratively, to put or thrust away; to rid one's self of. And made us doff our easy robes of peace. [Do + off. See Do, v. t., 7.]
- insolence n.
- The quality of being unusual or novel. [F. insolence, L. insolentia. See Insolent.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- fleecy a.
- Covered with, made of, or resembling, a fleece.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- garrulous a.
- Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative; loquacious. [L. garrulus, fr. garrire to chatter, talk; cf. Gr. Call.]
- 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
The Epitaph 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, The Epitaph, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/the-epitaph.html, id L12312.
Form and metre
The Epitaph is 60 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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 ABAB meetA · farewellB · sweetA · tellB
- 2 -A-A-B-BCDCDEFEF fantasy · prideA · verily · brideA · henceforth · lordB · worth · rewardB · seem'dC · greatD · blasphemedC · stateD · highE · barsF · skyE · starsF
- 3 ABAB----CDCDEFEFGHGH-I-IJKJKLMLM---- truceA · rayB · profuseA · wayB · paid · them · said · amen · wealthC · nearD · healthC · sereD · loveE · delightF · removeE · arightF · vowG · preferH · nowG · herH · peace · ineffableI · ease · wellI · thenceJ · allow'dK · senseJ · cloudK · makeL · lessM · takeL · possessM · sweet · eyes · lit · sacrifice
- 4 A-A- creptA · grove · sleptA · love
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ‘At Church, in twelve hours more, we meet! | 8 | ····/··· |
| This, Dearest, is our last farewell.’ | 8 | ·/˘·/··/ |
| ‘Oh, Felix, do you love me?’ ‘Sweet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Why do you ask?’ ‘I cannot tell.’ | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And was it no vain fantasy | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That raised me from the earth with pride? | 8 | ········ |
| Should I to-morrow verily | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Be Bridegroom, and Honoria Bride? | 8 | ·/··˘/˘· |
| Should I, in simple fact, henceforth | 8 | ···/˘·// |
| Live unconditionally lord | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| Of her whose smile for brightest worth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Seem’d all too bountiful reward? | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Incredible life’s promise seem’d, | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Or, credible, for life too great; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Love his own deity blasphemed, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And doff’d at last his heavenly state. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What law, if man could mount so high, | 8 | ········ |
| To further insolence set bars, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| And kept the chaste moon in the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| And bade him not tread out the stars! | 8 | ········ |
| Patience and hope had parted truce, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And, sun-like, Love obscured his ray | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| With dazzling mists, driven up profuse | 8 | ·/˘·/·˘/ |
| Before his own triumphant way. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| I thought with prayer how Jacob paid | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The patient price of Rachel; them, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of that calm grace Tobias said, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And Sarah’s innocent ‘Amen.’ | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Without avail! O’erwhelming wealth, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The wondrous gift of God so near, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which should have been delight and health | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Made heart and spirit sick and sere. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Until at last the soul of love, | 8 | ········ |
| That recks not of its own delight, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Awoke and bade the mists remove, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| And then once more I breathed aright; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And I rehears’d my marriage vow, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And swore her welfare to prefer | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| To all things, and for aye as now | 8 | ········ |
| To live, not for myself, but her. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Forth, from the glittering spirit’s peace | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And gaiety ineffable, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Stream’d to the heart delight and ease, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| As from an overflowing well; | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| And, orderly deriving thence | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Its pleasure perfect and allow’d, | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| Bright with the spirit shone the sense, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As with the sun a fleecy cloud. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If now to part with her could make | 8 | ········ |
| Her pleasure greater, sorrow less, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| I for my epitaph would take | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| ‘To serve seem’d more than to possess.’ | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And I perceiv’d, (the vision sweet | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Dimming with happy dew mine eyes), | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| That love and joy are torches lit | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From altar-fires of sacrifice. | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Across the sky the daylight crept, | 8 | ˘/···/·· |
| And birds grew garrulous in the grove, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And on my marriage-morn I slept | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A soft sleep, undisturb’d by love. | 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.