I know that this was Life,--the track
I know that this was Life,--the trackWhereon with equal feet we fared;And then, as now, the day preparedThe daily burden for the back.
But this it was that made me moveAs light as carrier-birds in air;I loved the weight I had to bear,Because it needed help of Love:
Nor could I weary, heart or limb,When mighty Love would cleave in twainThe lading of a single pain,And part it, giving half to him.
Words in this poem
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I know that this was Life,--the track is in the public domain. This text is taken from In memoriam, Project Gutenberg ebook #70950; 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, I know that this was Life,--the track, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-25.html, id L18385.
Form and metre
I know that this was Life,--the track is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABBA trackA · faredB · preparedB · backA
- 2 ABBA moveA · airB · bearB · loveA
- 3 ABBA limbA · twainB · painB · himA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I know that this was Life,--the track | 8 | ········ |
| Whereon with equal feet we fared; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And then, as now, the day prepared | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The daily burden for the back. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But this it was that made me move | 8 | ········ |
| As light as carrier-birds in air; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I loved the weight I had to bear, | 8 | ········ |
| Because it needed help of Love: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor could I weary, heart or limb, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When mighty Love would cleave in twain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The lading of a single pain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And part it, giving half to him. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
On this poem
He himself moved light as a carrier bird in air, and delighted in the weight he bore because Love shared it; and since he transferred half of every pain to his dear companion, he himself was never weary in either heart or limb.
Notes from the edition 5
Section introductions from Alfred Gatty, <i>A Key to Lord Tennyson's “In Memoriam”</i>, 4th ed. (George Bell & Sons, 1900; Project Gutenberg #36637). Line notes credited “[Tennyson]” are Tennyson's own notes; “[Hallam Tennyson]” marks a note that is wholly his son and editor's own explanatory bracket, not the poet's own words; “[Emily Tennyson]” marks the few notes signed by his wife. All three are from <i>The Works of Tennyson, Annotated by the Author</i>, ed. Hallam, Lord Tennyson, vol. 3 (Macmillan, 1908; Internet Archive worksoftennysona03tennuoft). Line notes credited “[Bradley]” are A. C. Bradley's, from <i>A Commentary on Tennyson's In Memoriam</i> (Macmillan, 1910; Internet Archive commentaryontenn00braduoft). All these number sections by the final, 131-section text, not the site's own 1850 numbering: from final XL to LVIII subtract one section number, from LX on subtract two, to reach the site's; the site prints the 129-section first edition of 1850 (see the work's own blurb), so two of the final text's numbered sections have no home here and are skipped.
- Stanza 1 this was Life — chequered, but the burden was shared. [Tennyson]
- Stanza 1, line 1 ' Life ': and therefore not perfect. [Bradley]
- Stanza 1, line 2 * with equal feet ': perhaps a reference to Virgil's ' sequiturque patrem non passibus aequis,' Aen. n. 724. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 2 ' Possibly an intentional contrast with xn.' (Eve). [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 4 Cf. Bacon, Essay 27: 'This communicating of a man's self to his friend... cutteth grief in halfes.' [Bradley]
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.