The Burial of Love
His eyes in eclipse,Pale cold his lips,The light of his hopes unfed,Mute his tongue,His bow unstrungWith the tears he hath shed,Backward drooping his graceful head,
Love is dead;His last arrow is sped;He hath not another dart;Go—carry him to his dark deathbed;Bury him in the cold, cold heart—Love is dead.
Oh, truest love! art thou forlorn,And unrevenged? thy pleasant wilesForgotten, and thine innocent joy?Shall hollowhearted apathy,The cruellest form of perfect scorn,With languor of most hateful smiles,For ever writeIn the withered lightOf the tearless eye,An epitaph that all may spy?No! sooner she herself shall die.
For her the showers shall not fall,Nor the round sun that shineth to all;Her light shall into darkness change;For her the green grass shall not spring,Nor the rivers flow, nor the sweet birds sing,Till Love have his full revenge.
Sainted Juliet! dearest name!If to love be life alone,Divinest Juliet,I love thee, and live; and yetLove unreturned is like the fragrant flameFolding the slaughter of the sacrificeOffered to gods upon an altarthrone;My heart is lighted at thine eyes,Changed into fire, and blown about with sighs.
I’ the glooming lightOf middle nightSo cold and white,Worn Sorrow sits by the moaning wave;Beside her are laidHer mattock and spade,For she hath half delved her own deep grave.Alone she is there:The white clouds drizzle: her hair falls loose;Her shoulders are bare;Her tears are mixed with the bearded dews.
Death standeth by;She will not die;With glazed eyeShe looks at her grave: she cannot sleep;Ever aloneShe maketh her moan:She cannot speak; she can only weep;For she will not hope.The thick snow falls on her flake by flake,The dull wave mourns down the slope,The world will not change, and her heart will not break.
The lintwhite and the throstlecockHave voices sweet and clear;All in the bloomed May.They from the blosmy brereCall to the fleeting year,If that he would them hearAnd stay. Alas! that one so beautifulShould have so dull an ear.
Fair year, fair year, thy children call,But thou art deaf as death;All in the bloomèd May.When thy light perishethThat from thee issueth,Our life evanisheth: Oh! stay.Alas! that lips so cruel-dumbShould have so sweet a breath!
Fair year, with brows of royal loveThou comest, as a king,All in the bloomèd May.Thy golden largess fling,And longer hear us sing;Though thou art fleet of wing,Yet stay. Alas! that eyes so full of lightShould be so wandering!
Thy locks are all of sunny sheenIn rings of gold yronne,All in the bloomèd May,We pri’thee pass not on;If thou dost leave the sun,Delight is with thee gone, Oh! stay.Thou art the fairest of thy feres,We pri’thee pass not on.
His crispè hair in ringis was yronne.— Chaucer, Knight’s Tale.(Tennyson’s note.)
Every day hath its night:Every night its morn:Thorough dark and brightWingèd hours are borne;Ah! welaway!
Seasons flower and fade;Golden calm and stormMingle day by day.There is no bright formDoth not cast a shade—Ah! welaway!
When we laugh, and our mirthApes the happy vein,We’re so kin to earth,Pleasaunce fathers pain—Ah! welaway!Madness laugheth loud:Laughter bringeth tears:Eyes are worn awayTill the end of fearsCometh in the shroud,Ah! welaway!
All is change, woe or weal;Joy is Sorrow’s brother;Grief and gladness stealSymbols of each other;Ah! welaway!Larks in heaven’s copeSing: the culvers mournAll the livelong day.Be not all forlorn;Let us weep, in hope—Ah! welaway!
Words in this poem 15
- deathbed n.
- The bed in which a person dies; hence, the closing hours of life of one who dies by sickness or the like; the last sickness.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- 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,]
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- tearless a.
- Shedding no tears; free from tears; unfeeling.
- sainted a.
- Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious.
- glooming n.
- Twilight (of morning or evening); the gloaming. [Cf. Gloaming.]
- mattock n.
- An implement for digging and grubbing. The head has two long steel blades, one like an adz and the other like a narrow ax or the point of a pickax. [AS. mattuc; cf. W. matog.]
- drizzle v. i.
- To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. [Prop. freq. of AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]
- flake n.
- A paling; a hurdle. [prov. Eng.] [Cf. Icel. flaki, fleki, Dan. flage, D. vlaak.]
- largess n.
- Liberality; generosity; bounty. [F. largesse, fr. large. See Large, a.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- 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.]
- livelong a.
- Whole; entire; long in passing; -- used of time, as day or night, in adverbial phrases, and usually with a sense of tediousness. [For lifelong. Cf. Lifelong.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Burial of Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg ebook #8601; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, The Burial of Love, in The Early Poems (1830–1842), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-early-poems/the-burial-of-love.html, id L16585.
Form and metre
The Burial of Love is 128 lines in 16 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABCCBB eclipseA · lipsA · unfedB · tongueC · unstrungC · shedB · headB
- 2 AABABA deadA · spedA · dartB · deathbedA · heartB · deadA
- 3 AB--ABCCDDD forlornA · wilesB · joy · apathy · scornA · smilesB · writeC · lightC · eyeD · spyD · dieD
- 4 AA-BB- fallA · allA · change · springB · singB · revenge
- 5 ABCCA-BDD nameA · aloneB · julietC · yetC · flameA · sacrifice · altarthroneB · eyesD · sighsD
- 6 AAABCCBD-D- lightA · nightA · whiteA · waveB · laidC · spadeC · graveB · thereD · loose · bareD · dews
- 7 AAABCCBDEDE byA · dieA · eyeA · sleepB · aloneC · moanC · weepB · hopeD · flakeE · slopeD · breakE
- 8 -A--AA-A throstlecock · clearA · may · brere · yearA · hearA · beautiful · earA
- 9 -ABAAB-A call · deathA · mayB · perishethA · issuethA · stayB · dumb · breathA
- 10 -A-AAA-A love · kingA · may · flingA · singA · wingA · light · wanderingA
- 11 -ABA-B-A sheen · yronneA · mayB · onA · sun · stayB · feres · onA
- 13 ABAB- nightA · mornB · brightA · borneB · welaway
- 14 AB-BA- fadeA · stormB · day · formB · shadeA · welaway
- 15 ABABCDE-EDC mirthA · veinB · earthA · painB · welawayC · loudD · tearsE · away · fearsE · shroudD · welawayC
- 16 ABABCDE-EDC wealA · brotherB · stealA · otherB · welawayC · copeD · mournE · day · forlornE · hopeD · welawayC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| His eyes in eclipse, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Pale cold his lips, | 4 | ···· |
| The light of his hopes unfed, | 7 | ······˘ |
| Mute his tongue, | 3 | ··· |
| His bow unstrung | 4 | ···· |
| With the tears he hath shed, | 6 | ······ |
| Backward drooping his graceful head, | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Love is dead; | 3 | ··· |
| His last arrow is sped; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| He hath not another dart; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Go—carry him to his dark deathbed; | 9 | ·/˘····/· |
| Bury him in the cold, cold heart— | 8 | /˘······ |
| Love is dead. | 3 | ··· |
| Oh, truest love! art thou forlorn, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And unrevenged? thy pleasant wiles | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Forgotten, and thine innocent joy? | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Shall hollowhearted apathy, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| The cruellest form of perfect scorn, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| With languor of most hateful smiles, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For ever write | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In the withered light | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of the tearless eye, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| An epitaph that all may spy? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No! sooner she herself shall die. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| For her the showers shall not fall, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor the round sun that shineth to all; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Her light shall into darkness change; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For her the green grass shall not spring, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor the rivers flow, nor the sweet birds sing, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Till Love have his full revenge. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Sainted Juliet! dearest name! | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| If to love be life alone, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Divinest Juliet, | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| I love thee, and live; and yet | 7 | ······· |
| Love unreturned is like the fragrant flame | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Folding the slaughter of the sacrifice | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Offered to gods upon an altarthrone; | 10 | /˘········ |
| My heart is lighted at thine eyes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Changed into fire, and blown about with sighs. | 10 | ···/······ |
| I’ the glooming light | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of middle night | 4 | ·/˘· |
| So cold and white, | 4 | ···· |
| Worn Sorrow sits by the moaning wave; | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Beside her are laid | 5 | ˘/··· |
| Her mattock and spade, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| For she hath half delved her own deep grave. | 9 | ········· |
| Alone she is there: | 5 | ˘/··· |
| The white clouds drizzle: her hair falls loose; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Her shoulders are bare; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Her tears are mixed with the bearded dews. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Death standeth by; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| She will not die; | 4 | ···· |
| With glazed eye | 3 | ··· |
| She looks at her grave: she cannot sleep; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Ever alone | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| She maketh her moan: | 5 | ····· |
| She cannot speak; she can only weep; | 9 | ·˘/···/˘· |
| For she will not hope. | 5 | ····· |
| The thick snow falls on her flake by flake, | 9 | ········· |
| The dull wave mourns down the slope, | 7 | ······· |
| The world will not change, and her heart will not break. | 11 | ··········· |
| The lintwhite and the throstlecock | 8 | ········ |
| Have voices sweet and clear; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| All in the bloomed May. | 5 | ····· |
| They from the blosmy brere | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Call to the fleeting year, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If that he would them hear | 6 | ······ |
| And stay. Alas! that one so beautiful | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Should have so dull an ear. | 6 | ······ |
| Fair year, fair year, thy children call, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But thou art deaf as death; | 6 | ······ |
| All in the bloomèd May. | 5 | ····· |
| When thy light perisheth | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| That from thee issueth, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Our life evanisheth: Oh! stay. | 8 | /······· |
| Alas! that lips so cruel-dumb | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Should have so sweet a breath! | 6 | ······ |
| Fair year, with brows of royal love | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thou comest, as a king, | 6 | ······ |
| All in the bloomèd May. | 5 | ····· |
| Thy golden largess fling, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And longer hear us sing; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Though thou art fleet of wing, | 6 | ······ |
| Yet stay. Alas! that eyes so full of light | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Should be so wandering! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Thy locks are all of sunny sheen | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In rings of gold yronne, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| All in the bloomèd May, | 5 | ····· |
| We pri’thee pass not on; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If thou dost leave the sun, | 6 | ······ |
| Delight is with thee gone, Oh! stay. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Thou art the fairest of thy feres, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We pri’thee pass not on. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| His crispè hair in ringis was yronne.— Chaucer, Knight’s Tale. | 14 | ·······˘/˘/˘·· |
| (Tennyson’s note.) | 4 | /˘˘· |
| Every day hath its night: | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Every night its morn: | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Thorough dark and bright | 5 | /˘··· |
| Wingèd hours are borne; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Seasons flower and fade; | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| Golden calm and storm | 5 | /˘··· |
| Mingle day by day. | 5 | /˘··· |
| There is no bright form | 5 | ····· |
| Doth not cast a shade— | 5 | ····· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| When we laugh, and our mirth | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Apes the happy vein, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| We’re so kin to earth, | 5 | ····· |
| Pleasaunce fathers pain— | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Madness laugheth loud: | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Laughter bringeth tears: | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Eyes are worn away | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Till the end of fears | 5 | ····· |
| Cometh in the shroud, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| All is change, woe or weal; | 6 | ······ |
| Joy is Sorrow’s brother; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Grief and gladness steal | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Symbols of each other; | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Larks in heaven’s cope | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Sing: the culvers mourn | 5 | ··/˘· |
| All the livelong day. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Be not all forlorn; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Let us weep, in hope— | 5 | ····· |
| Ah! welaway! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
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