Beyond
We must not doubt, or fear, or dread, that love for life is only given,And that the calm and sainted dead will meet estranged and cold in heaven:-Oh, Love were poor and vain indeed, based on so harsh and stern a creed.
True that this earth must pass away, with all the starry worlds of light,With all the glory of the day, and calmer tenderness of night;For, in that radiant home can shine alone the immortal and divine.
Earth's lower things--her pride, her fame, her science, learning, wealthand power--Slow growths that through long ages came, or fruits of some convulsive hour,Whose very memory must decay--Heaven is too pure for such as they.
They are complete: their work is done. So let them sleep in endless rest.Love's life is only here begun, nor is, nor can be, fully blest;It has no room to spread its wings, amid this crowd of meaner things.
Just for the very shadow thrown upon its sweetness here below,The cross that it must bear alone, and bloody baptism of woe,Crowned and completed through its pain, we know that it shall rise again.
So if its flame burn pure and bright, here, where our air is dark and dense,And nothing in this world of night lives with a living so intense;When it shall reach its home at length--how bright its light! how strong itsstrength!
And while the vain weak loves of earth (for such base counterfeits abound)Shall perish with what gave them birth--their graves are green and fresh around,No funeral song shall need to rise, for the true Love that never dies.
If in my heart I now could fear that, risen again, we should not knowWhat was our Life of Life when here--the hearts we loved so much below;I would arise this very day, and cast so poor a thing away.
But Love is no such soulless clod: living, perfected it shall riseTransfigured in the light of God, and giving glory to the skies:And that which makes this life so sweet, shall render Heaven's joy complete.
Words in this poem
- sainted a.
- Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- calmer n.
- One who, or that which, makes calm.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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,]
- soulless a.
- Being without a soul, or without greatness or nobleness of mind; mean; spiritless.
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Beyond is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Beyond, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/beyond.html, id L21759.
Form and metre
Beyond is 29 lines in 9 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 55% of the lines. The metre is iambic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic octameter.
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.
- 2 AA- lightA · nightA · divine
- 3 -AA- wealth · powerA · hourA · they
- 4 AA- restA · blestA · things
- 5 AA- belowA · woeA · again
- 6 AA-- denseA · intenseA · its · strength
- 7 AA- aboundA · aroundA · dies
- 8 AA- knowA · belowA · away
- 9 AA- riseA · skiesA · complete
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 octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We must not doubt, or fear, or dread, that love for life is only given, | 17 | ·············/˘/˘ |
| And that the calm and sainted dead will meet estranged and cold in heaven:- | 17 | ·····/˘···˘/···/˘ |
| Oh, Love were poor and vain indeed, based on so harsh and stern a creed. | 16 | ······˘/········ |
| True that this earth must pass away, with all the starry worlds of light, | 16 | ······˘/···/˘··· |
| With all the glory of the day, and calmer tenderness of night; | 16 | ···/˘····/˘/˘˘·· |
| For, in that radiant home can shine alone the immortal and divine. | 17 | ···/˘···˘/·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Earth's lower things--her pride, her fame, her science, learning, wealth | 14 | ·/˘······/˘/˘· |
| and power-- | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Slow growths that through long ages came, or fruits of some convulsive hour, | 17 | ·····/˘·····˘/˘/˘ |
| Whose very memory must decay--Heaven is too pure for such as they. | 16 | ·/˘/˘·˘//······· |
| They are complete: their work is done. So let them sleep in endless rest. | 16 | ··˘/·········/˘· |
| Love's life is only here begun, nor is, nor can be, fully blest; | 16 | ···/˘·˘/·····/˘· |
| It has no room to spread its wings, amid this crowd of meaner things. | 16 | ········˘/···/˘· |
| Just for the very shadow thrown upon its sweetness here below, | 16 | ···/˘/·····/˘··· |
| The cross that it must bear alone, and bloody baptism of woe, | 16 | ······˘/·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Crowned and completed through its pain, we know that it shall rise again. | 16 | ··˘/˘·········˘/ |
| So if its flame burn pure and bright, here, where our air is dark and dense, | 16 | ··········/····· |
| And nothing in this world of night lives with a living so intense; | 16 | ·/˘········/˘·˘/ |
| When it shall reach its home at length--how bright its light! how strong its | 15 | ··············· |
| strength! | 1 | · |
| And while the vain weak loves of earth (for such base counterfeits abound) | 16 | ···········/˘·˘/ |
| Shall perish with what gave them birth--their graves are green and fresh around, | 16 | ·/˘············· |
| No funeral song shall need to rise, for the true Love that never dies. | 16 | ·/˘˘··········/· |
| If in my heart I now could fear that, risen again, we should not know | 17 | ·········/˘˘/···· |
| What was our Life of Life when here--the hearts we loved so much below; | 16 | ··/············· |
| I would arise this very day, and cast so poor a thing away. | 16 | ··˘/·/˘·······˘/ |
| But Love is no such soulless clod: living, perfected it shall rise | 16 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Transfigured in the light of God, and giving glory to the skies: | 16 | ·········/˘/˘··· |
| And that which makes this life so sweet, shall render Heaven's joy complete. | 16 | ·········/˘/˘·˘/ |
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.