For the Future
I wonder did you ever countThe value of one human fate;Or sum the infinite amountOf one heart's treasures, and the weightOf Life's one venture, and the whole concentrate purpose of a soul.
And if you ever paused to thinkThat all this in your hands I laidWithout a fear:- did you not shrinkFrom such a burthen? half afraid,Half wishing that you could divide the risk, or cast it all aside.
While Love has daily perils, suchAs none foresee and none control;And hearts are strung so that one touch,Careless or rough, may jar the whole,You well might feel afraid to reign with absolute power of joy and pain.
You well might fear--if Love's sole claimWere to be happy: but true LoveTakes joy as solace, not as aim,And looks beyond, and looks above;And sometimes through the bitterest strife first learns to live herhighest life.
Earth forges joy into a chainTill fettered Love forgets its strength,Its purpose, and its end;--but PainRestores its heritage at length,And bids Love rise again and be eternal, mighty, pure, and free.
If then your future life should needA strength my Love can only gainThrough suffering, or my heart be freedOnly by sorrow, from some stain--Then you shall give, and I will take, this Crown of fire for Love's dear sake.
Words in this poem
- foresee v. i.
- To have or exercise foresight.
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the Future 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, For the Future, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/for-the-future.html, id L21814.
Form and metre
For the Future is 31 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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- countA · fateB · amountA · weightB · soul
- 2 ABAB- thinkA · laidB · shrinkA · afraidB · aside
- 3 ABAB- suchA · controlB · touchA · wholeB · pain
- 4 ABAB-- claimA · loveB · aimA · aboveB · her · life
- 5 ABAB- chainA · strengthB · painA · lengthB · free
- 6 ABAB- needA · gainB · freedA · stainB · sake
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I wonder did you ever count | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The value of one human fate; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or sum the infinite amount | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Of one heart's treasures, and the weight | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of Life's one venture, and the whole concentrate purpose of a soul. | 16 | ···/˘···/˘·/˘··· |
| And if you ever paused to think | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That all this in your hands I laid | 8 | ········ |
| Without a fear:- did you not shrink | 8 | ········ |
| From such a burthen? half afraid, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Half wishing that you could divide the risk, or cast it all aside. | 16 | ·/˘···˘/······˘/ |
| While Love has daily perils, such | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As none foresee and none control; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| And hearts are strung so that one touch, | 8 | ········ |
| Careless or rough, may jar the whole, | 8 | /˘······ |
| You well might feel afraid to reign with absolute power of joy and pain. | 17 | ····˘/···/˘·/···· |
| You well might fear--if Love's sole claim | 8 | ········ |
| Were to be happy: but true Love | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Takes joy as solace, not as aim, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And looks beyond, and looks above; | 8 | ········ |
| And sometimes through the bitterest strife first learns to live her | 13 | ·/···/˘······ |
| highest life. | 3 | /˘· |
| Earth forges joy into a chain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Till fettered Love forgets its strength, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Its purpose, and its end;--but Pain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Restores its heritage at length, | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| And bids Love rise again and be eternal, mighty, pure, and free. | 16 | ····˘/··˘/˘/˘··· |
| If then your future life should need | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A strength my Love can only gain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Through suffering, or my heart be freed | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Only by sorrow, from some stain-- | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Then you shall give, and I will take, this Crown of fire for Love's dear sake. | 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.