I envy not in any moods
I envy not in any moodsThe captive void of noble rage,The linnet born within the cageThat never knew the summer woods:
I envy not the beast that takesHis license in the field of time,Unfetter’d by the sense of crime,To whom a conscience never wakes;
Nor, what may count itself as blest,The heart that never plighted trothBut stagnates in the weeds of sloth,Nor any want-begotten rest.
I hold it true, whate’er befall;I feel it, when I sorrow most;’Tis better to have loved and lostThan never to have loved at all.
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I envy not in any moods 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 envy not in any moods, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-27.html, id L18387.
Form and metre
I envy not in any moods is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 31% 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 moodsA · rageB · cageB · woodsA
- 2 ABBA takesA · timeB · crimeB · wakesA
- 3 ABBA blestA · trothB · slothB · restA
- 4 ABBA befallA · mostB · lostB · allA
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 envy not in any moods | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The captive void of noble rage, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The linnet born within the cage | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That never knew the summer woods: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I envy not the beast that takes | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His license in the field of time, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Unfetter’d by the sense of crime, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| To whom a conscience never wakes; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Nor, what may count itself as blest, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The heart that never plighted troth | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But stagnates in the weeds of sloth, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Nor any want-begotten rest. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| I hold it true, whate’er befall; | 9 | ····˘˘/˘/ |
| I feel it, when I sorrow most; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| ’Tis better to have loved and lost | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Than never to have loved at all. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
On this poem
On the contrary,
"I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all."
Seneca in Epistle 99 says, Magis gauderes quod habueras quam maereres quod amiseras.--See P. lxxxv., 1.
The Poem seems to halt here, and begin afresh with a description of Christmastide.
Notes from the edition 6
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, line 2 Cf. ' Chill Penury represt their noble rage,' Gray's Elegy: also (G. A. C.) Scott's Lady of the Lake, VI. xxii., The captive thrush may brook the cage, The prisoned eagle dies for rage. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 1 ' takes his license/ lives without law, because un- troubled by promptings of a higher nature; 'field of time': earthly life; cf. XLIII. 14, XCI. 6. With this stanza cf. a remarkable extract from a letter, Memoir; I. 170. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3 \want-begotten rest means rest — the result of some deficiency or narrowness. — ED.] [Tennyson]
- Stanza 3, line 3 Cf. Hamlet, I. iv. 32, but Tennyson's metaphor is of a stream clogged with weeds. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 4 'want': deficiency. [Bradley]
- Stanza 4, line 1 With this conviction the poem comes to a break, as though a definite stage of advance were reached; and the phrases 'I hold it true' and 'loved and lost' may be intended to indicate this by reminding the reader of I. I, 15.
As a parallel to the last two lines (repeated LXXXV. 3, 4), Collins quotes Congreve, Way oj the World, II. ii.: "Tis better to have been left than never to have been loved.' In the foim of the expression there may be a reminiscence, certainly unconscious, of Campbell's Jilted Nymph: Better be courted and jilted Than never be courted at all. [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.