The Faces of Memory
Dream faces bloom around your faceLike flowers upon one stem;The heart of many a vanished raceSighs as I look on them.
The sun rich face of Egypt glows,The eyes of Eire brood,With whom the golden Cyprian showsIn lovely sisterhood.
Your tree put forth these phantom flowersIn ages past away:They had the love in other hoursI give to you to-day.
One light their eyes have, as may shineOne star on many a sea,They look that tender love on mineThat lights your glance on me.
They fade in you; their lips are fainTo meet the old caress:And all their love is mine againAs lip to lip we press.
Words in this poem
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- sisterhood n.
- The state or relation of being a sister; the office or duty of a sister. [Sister + hood.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Faces of 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, The Faces of Memory, in The Divine Vision and Other Poems (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36913, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/russell-divine-vision/the-faces-of-memory.html, id L11542.
Form and metre
The Faces of Memory is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 45% 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 faceA · stemB · raceA · themB
- 2 ABAB glowsA · broodB · showsA · sisterhoodB
- 3 ABAB flowersA · awayB · hoursA · dayB
- 4 ABAB shineA · seaB · mineA · meB
- 5 ABAB fainA · caressB · againA · pressB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dream faces bloom around your face | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like flowers upon one stem; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The heart of many a vanished race | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Sighs as I look on them. | 6 | ······ |
| The sun rich face of Egypt glows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The eyes of Eire brood, | 5 | ····· |
| With whom the golden Cyprian shows | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In lovely sisterhood. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Your tree put forth these phantom flowers | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In ages past away: | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| They had the love in other hours | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| I give to you to-day. | 6 | ······ |
| One light their eyes have, as may shine | 8 | ········ |
| One star on many a sea, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| They look that tender love on mine | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That lights your glance on me. | 6 | ······ |
| They fade in you; their lips are fain | 8 | ········ |
| To meet the old caress: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And all their love is mine again | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As lip to lip we press. | 6 | ······ |
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.