My Will
Since I have no lands or houses,And no hoarded golden store,What can I leave those who love meWhen they see my face no more?Do not smile; I am not jesting,Though my words sound gay and light,Listen to me, dearest Alice,I will make my Will to-night.
First for Mabel--who will neverLet the dust of future yearsDim the thought of me, but keep itBrighter still: perhaps with tears.In whose eyes, whate'er I glance at,Touch, or praise, will always shine,Through a strange and sacred radiance,By Love's Charter, wholly mine;She will never lend to othersSlenderest link of thought I claim,I will, therefore, to her keepingLeave my memory and my name.
Bertha will do truer serviceTo her kind than I have done,So I leave to her young spiritThe long Work I have begun.Well! the threads are tangled, broken,And the colours do not blend,She will bend her earnest strivingBoth to finish and amend:And, when it is all completed,Strong with care and rich with skill,Just because my hands began it,She will love it better still.
Ruth shall have my dearest token,The one link I dread to break,The one duty that I live for,She, when I am gone, will take.Sacred is the trust I leave her,Needing patience, prayer, and tears;I have striven to fulfil it,As she knows--these many years.Sometimes hopeless, faint, and wearyYet a blessing shall remainWith the task, and Ruth will prize itFor my many hours of pain.
What must I leave you, my Alice?Nothing, Love, to do or bear,Nothing that can dim your blue eyesWith the slightest cloud of care.I will leave my heart to love you,With the tender faith of old;Still to comfort, warm, and light you,Should your life grow dark or cold.No one else, my child, can claim it;Though you find old scars of pain,They were only wounds, my darling,There is not, I trust, one stain.
Are my gifts indeed so worthlessNow the slender sum is told?Well, I know not: years may bless themWith a nobler price than gold.Am I poor? ah no, most wealthy,Not in these poor gifts you take,But in the true hearts that tell meYou will keep them for my sake.
Words in this poem
- bertha n.
- A kind of collar or cape worn by ladies. [F. berthe, fr. Berthe, a woman's name.]
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- 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
My Will 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, My Will, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/my-will.html, id L21771.
Form and metre
My Will is 64 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-A-B-B houses · storeA · me · moreA · jesting · lightB · alice · nightB
- 2 -A-A-B-B-C-C never · yearsA · it · tearsA · at · shineB · radiance · mineB · others · claimC · keeping · nameC
- 3 -A-AAB-B-C-C service · doneA · spirit · begunA · brokenA · blendB · striving · amendB · completed · skillC · it · stillC
- 4 -ABABCDC-EDE token · breakA · forB · takeA · herB · tearsC · itD · yearsC · weary · remainE · itD · painE
- 5 -A-ABCBC-D-D alice · bearA · eyes · careA · youB · oldC · youB · coldC · it · painD · darling · stainD
- 6 -A-A-B-B worthless · toldA · them · goldA · wealthy · takeB · me · sakeB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Since I have no lands or houses, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And no hoarded golden store, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| What can I leave those who love me | 8 | ········ |
| When they see my face no more? | 7 | ······· |
| Do not smile; I am not jesting, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Though my words sound gay and light, | 7 | ······· |
| Listen to me, dearest Alice, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| I will make my Will to-night. | 7 | ······· |
| First for Mabel--who will never | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Let the dust of future years | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Dim the thought of me, but keep it | 8 | ········ |
| Brighter still: perhaps with tears. | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| In whose eyes, whate'er I glance at, | 9 | ···˘˘/··· |
| Touch, or praise, will always shine, | 7 | ····/·· |
| Through a strange and sacred radiance, | 9 | ····/˘/˘˘ |
| By Love's Charter, wholly mine; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| She will never lend to others | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Slenderest link of thought I claim, | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| I will, therefore, to her keeping | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Leave my memory and my name. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Bertha will do truer service | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| To her kind than I have done, | 7 | ······· |
| So I leave to her young spirit | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The long Work I have begun. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Well! the threads are tangled, broken, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And the colours do not blend, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| She will bend her earnest striving | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Both to finish and amend: | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| And, when it is all completed, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Strong with care and rich with skill, | 7 | ······· |
| Just because my hands began it, | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| She will love it better still. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Ruth shall have my dearest token, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| The one link I dread to break, | 7 | ······· |
| The one duty that I live for, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| She, when I am gone, will take. | 7 | ······· |
| Sacred is the trust I leave her, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Needing patience, prayer, and tears; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| I have striven to fulfil it, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| As she knows--these many years. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sometimes hopeless, faint, and weary | 8 | /·/˘··/˘ |
| Yet a blessing shall remain | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| With the task, and Ruth will prize it | 8 | ········ |
| For my many hours of pain. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| What must I leave you, my Alice? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Nothing, Love, to do or bear, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Nothing that can dim your blue eyes | 8 | /˘······ |
| With the slightest cloud of care. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I will leave my heart to love you, | 8 | ········ |
| With the tender faith of old; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Still to comfort, warm, and light you, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Should your life grow dark or cold. | 7 | ······· |
| No one else, my child, can claim it; | 8 | ········ |
| Though you find old scars of pain, | 7 | ······· |
| They were only wounds, my darling, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| There is not, I trust, one stain. | 7 | ······· |
| Are my gifts indeed so worthless | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Now the slender sum is told? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Well, I know not: years may bless them | 8 | ········ |
| With a nobler price than gold. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Am I poor? ah no, most wealthy, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Not in these poor gifts you take, | 7 | ······· |
| But in the true hearts that tell me | 8 | ········ |
| You will keep them for my sake. | 7 | ······· |
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.