Ardour and Memory
The cuckoo-throb, the heartbeat of the Spring;The rosebud's blush that leaves it as it growsInto the full-eyed fair unblushing rose;The summer clouds that visit every wingWith fires of sunrise and of sunsetting;The furtive flickering streams to light re-born'Mid airs new-fledged and valorous lusts of morn,While all the daughters of the daybreak sing:--
These ardour loves, and memory: and when flownAll joys, and through dark forest-boughs in flightThe wind swoops onward brandishing the light,Even yet the rose-tree's verdure left aloneWill flush all ruddy though the rose be gone;With ditties and with dirges infinite.
Words in this poem
- unblushing a.
- Not blushing; shameless.
- sunsetting n.
- The descent of the sun below the horizon; also, the time when the sun sets; evening. Also used figuratively.
- furtive a.
- Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. Prior. [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.]
- valorous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting valor; brave; courageous; valiant; intrepid. [Cf. F. valeureux, LL. valorosus.]
- 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.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ardour and Memory is in the public domain. This text is taken from The House of Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #3692; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ardour and Memory, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/ardour-and-memory.html, id L20981.
Form and metre
Ardour and Memory is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See 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 ABBAACCA springA · growsB · roseB · wingA · sunsettingA · bornC · mornC · singA
- 2 ABBA-B flownA · flightB · lightB · aloneA · gone · infiniteB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The cuckoo-throb, the heartbeat of the Spring; | 10 | ·/···/···· |
| The rosebud's blush that leaves it as it grows | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Into the full-eyed fair unblushing rose; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The summer clouds that visit every wing | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| With fires of sunrise and of sunsetting; | 11 | ·/˘·/···/·˘ |
| The furtive flickering streams to light re-born | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| 'Mid airs new-fledged and valorous lusts of morn, | 11 | ·····/˘˘··· |
| While all the daughters of the daybreak sing:-- | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| These ardour loves, and memory: and when flown | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| All joys, and through dark forest-boughs in flight | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The wind swoops onward brandishing the light, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Even yet the rose-tree's verdure left alone | 10 | /····/˘·˘/ |
| Will flush all ruddy though the rose be gone; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With ditties and with dirges infinite. | 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.