Never Again
"Never again!" vow hearts when reunited,"Never again shall Love be cast aside;For ever now the shadow has departed;Nor bitter sorrow, veiled in scornful pride,Shall feign indifference, or affect disdain,--Never, oh Love, again, never again!"
"Never again!" so sobs, in broken accents,A soul laid prostrate at a holy shrine,--"Once more, once more forgive, oh Lord, and pardon,My wayward life shall bend to love divine;And never more shall sin its whiteness stain,--Never, oh God, again, never again!"
"Never again!" so speaketh one forsaken,In the blank desolate passion of despair,--"Never again shall the bright dream I cherishedDelude my heart, for bitter truth is there,--The angel, Hope, shall still thy cruel painNever again, my heart, never again!"
"Never again!" so speaks the sudden silence,When round the hearth gathers each well-known face,--But one is missing, and no future presence,However dear, can fill that vacant place;For ever shall the burning thought remain,--"Never, beloved, again! never again!"
"Never again!" so--but beyond our hearing--Ring out far voices fading up the sky;Never again shall earthly care and sorrowWeigh down the wings that bear those souls on high;Listen, oh earth, and hear that glorious strain,--"Never, never again! never again!"
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Never Again 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, Never Again, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/never-again.html, id L21781.
Form and metre
Never Again is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AAAABB reunitedA · asideA · departedA · prideA · disdainB · againB
- 2 -AAABB accents · shrineA · pardonA · divineA · stainB · againB
- 3 AB-BAA forsakenA · despairB · cherished · thereB · painA · againA
- 4 -A-ABB silence · faceA · presence · placeA · remainB · againB
- 5 -A-ABB hearing · skyA · sorrow · highA · strainB · againB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Never again!" vow hearts when reunited, | 11 | /˘˘/····˘/˘ |
| "Never again shall Love be cast aside; | 10 | /˘˘/····˘/ |
| For ever now the shadow has departed; | 11 | ·/˘··/··˘/˘ |
| Nor bitter sorrow, veiled in scornful pride, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Shall feign indifference, or affect disdain,-- | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Never, oh Love, again, never again!" | 10 | /˘··˘//˘˘/ |
| "Never again!" so sobs, in broken accents, | 11 | /˘˘/···/˘/˘ |
| A soul laid prostrate at a holy shrine,-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "Once more, once more forgive, oh Lord, and pardon, | 11 | ····˘/···/˘ |
| My wayward life shall bend to love divine; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And never more shall sin its whiteness stain,-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Never, oh God, again, never again!" | 10 | /˘··˘//˘˘/ |
| "Never again!" so speaketh one forsaken, | 11 | /˘˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| In the blank desolate passion of despair,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| "Never again shall the bright dream I cherished | 11 | /˘˘/·····/˘ |
| Delude my heart, for bitter truth is there,-- | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| The angel, Hope, shall still thy cruel pain | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Never again, my heart, never again!" | 10 | /˘˘/··/˘˘/ |
| "Never again!" so speaks the sudden silence, | 11 | /˘˘/···/˘/˘ |
| When round the hearth gathers each well-known face,-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| But one is missing, and no future presence, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| However dear, can fill that vacant place; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For ever shall the burning thought remain,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| "Never, beloved, again! never again!" | 10 | /˘˘/˘//˘˘/ |
| "Never again!" so--but beyond our hearing-- | 11 | /˘/····/˘/˘ |
| Ring out far voices fading up the sky; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Never again shall earthly care and sorrow | 11 | /˘˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Weigh down the wings that bear those souls on high; | 10 | ·········· |
| Listen, oh earth, and hear that glorious strain,-- | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| "Never, never again! never again!" | 10 | /˘/˘˘//˘˘/ |
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.