A Memory
You remember, dear, togetherTwo children, you and I,Sat once in the autumn weather,Watching the autumn sky.
There was some one round us strayingThe whole of the long day through,Who seemed to say, "I am playingAt hide and seek with you."
And one thing after anotherWas whispered out of the air,How God was a big, kind brotherWhose home is in everywhere.
His light like a smile comes glancingThrough the cool, cool winds as they pass,From the flowers in heaven dancingTo the stars that shine in the grass.
From the clouds in deep blue wreathingAnd most from the mountains tall,But God like a wind goes breathingA dream of Himself in all.
The heart of the Wise was beatingSweet, sweet, in our hearts that day:And many a thought came fleetingAnd fancies solemn and gay.
We were grave in our way diviningHow childhood was taking wings,And the wonder world was shiningWith vast eternal things.
The solemn twilight flutteredLike the plumes of seraphim,And we felt what things were utteredIn the sunset voice of Him.
We lingered long, for dearerThan home were the mountain placesWhere God from the stars dropt nearerOur pale, dreamy faces.
Our very hearts from beatingWe stilled in awed delight,For spirit and children were meetingIn the purple, ample night.
Words in this poem
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- seraphim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Seraph. Cf. Cherubim.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Memory is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Divine Vision, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #36913; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George William Russell, A Memory, in The Divine Vision and Other Poems (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36913, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/russell-divine-vision/a-memory.html, id L11551.
Form and metre
A Memory is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 23 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 togetherA · iB · weatherA · skyB
- 2 ABAB strayingA · throughB · playingA · youB
- 3 ABAB anotherA · airB · brotherA · everywhereB
- 4 ABAB glancingA · passB · dancingA · grassB
- 5 -A-A wreathing · tallA · breathing · allA
- 6 ABAB beatingA · dayB · fleetingA · gayB
- 7 ABAB diviningA · wingsB · shiningA · thingsB
- 8 A-A- flutteredA · seraphim · utteredA · him
- 9 ABAB dearerA · placesB · nearerA · facesB
- 10 ABAB beatingA · delightB · meetingA · nightB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You remember, dear, together | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Two children, you and I, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Sat once in the autumn weather, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Watching the autumn sky. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| There was some one round us straying | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The whole of the long day through, | 7 | ······· |
| Who seemed to say, "I am playing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| At hide and seek with you." | 6 | ······ |
| And one thing after another | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Was whispered out of the air, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| How God was a big, kind brother | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Whose home is in everywhere. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| His light like a smile comes glancing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Through the cool, cool winds as they pass, | 8 | ········ |
| From the flowers in heaven dancing | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| To the stars that shine in the grass. | 8 | ········ |
| From the clouds in deep blue wreathing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And most from the mountains tall, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But God like a wind goes breathing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| A dream of Himself in all. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| The heart of the Wise was beating | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sweet, sweet, in our hearts that day: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And many a thought came fleeting | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| And fancies solemn and gay. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| We were grave in our way divining | 9 | ····/·˘/˘ |
| How childhood was taking wings, | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| And the wonder world was shining | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| With vast eternal things. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The solemn twilight fluttered | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘˘ |
| Like the plumes of seraphim, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And we felt what things were uttered | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the sunset voice of Him. | 7 | ··/···· |
| We lingered long, for dearer | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Than home were the mountain places | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Where God from the stars dropt nearer | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Our pale, dreamy faces. | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Our very hearts from beating | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| We stilled in awed delight, | 7 | ··˘··˘/ |
| For spirit and children were meeting | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| In the purple, ample night. | 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.