Could we forget the widow’d hour
Could we forget the widow’d hourAnd look on Spirits breathed away,As on a maiden in the dayWhen first she wears her orange-flower!
When crown’d with blessing she doth riseTo take her latest leave of home,And hopes and light regrets that comeMake April of her tender eyes;
And doubtful joys the father move,And tears are on the mother’s face,As parting with a long embraceShe enters other realms of love;
Her office there to rear, to teach,Becoming as is meet and fitA link among the days, to knitThe generations each with each;
And, doubtless, unto thee is givenA life that bears immortal fruitIn such great offices as suitThe full-grown energies of heaven.
Ay me, the difference I discern!How often shall her old firesideBe cheer’d with tidings of the bride,How often she herself return,
And tell them all they would have told,And bring her babe, and make her boast,Till even those that miss’d her most,Shall count new things as dear as old:
But thou and I have shaken hands,Till growing winters lay me low;My paths are in the fields I know,And thine in undiscover’d lands.
Words in this poem
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- 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,]
- fireside n.
- A place near the fire or hearth; home; domestic life or retirement.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Could we forget the widow’d hour 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, Could we forget the widow’d hour, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-39.html, id L18399.
Form and metre
Could we forget the widow’d hour is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 34% 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 hourA · awayB · dayB · flowerA
- 2 ABBA riseA · homeB · comeB · eyesA
- 3 ABBA moveA · faceB · embraceB · loveA
- 4 ABBA teachA · fitB · knitB · eachA
- 5 ABBA givenA · fruitB · suitB · heavenA
- 6 ABBA discernA · firesideB · brideB · returnA
- 7 ABBA toldA · boastB · mostB · oldA
- 8 ABBA handsA · lowB · knowB · landsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Could we forget the widow’d hour | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And look on Spirits breathed away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As on a maiden in the day | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When first she wears her orange-flower! | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| When crown’d with blessing she doth rise | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To take her latest leave of home, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And hopes and light regrets that come | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Make April of her tender eyes; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And doubtful joys the father move, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And tears are on the mother’s face, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As parting with a long embrace | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| She enters other realms of love; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Her office there to rear, to teach, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Becoming as is meet and fit | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| A link among the days, to knit | 8 | ········ |
| The generations each with each; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And, doubtless, unto thee is given | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| A life that bears immortal fruit | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In such great offices as suit | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The full-grown energies of heaven. | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Ay me, the difference I discern! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| How often shall her old fireside | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Be cheer’d with tidings of the bride, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How often she herself return, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| And tell them all they would have told, | 8 | ········ |
| And bring her babe, and make her boast, | 8 | ········ |
| Till even those that miss’d her most, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shall count new things as dear as old: | 8 | ········ |
| But thou and I have shaken hands, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till growing winters lay me low; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| My paths are in the fields I know, | 8 | ········ |
| And thine in undiscover’d lands. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
On this poem
"is given A life that bears immortal fruit In such great offices as suit The full-grown energies of heaven."
But then comes this difference. The bride will return in course of time with her baby, and all at her old home will be happier for her absence--whereas
"thou and I have shaken hands, Till growing winters lay me low; My paths are in the fields I know, But thine in undiscover'd lands."
Notes from the edition 7
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 1 ' widow'd': cf. IX. 18, and elsewhere. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 4 Collins compares: c The April's in her eyes,' Antony and Cleopatra, ill. ii. 43. [Bradley]
- Stanza 5, line 3 'In those great offices that suit ': until about 1883 the line read ' In such great offices as suit.' ' I hate that,3 said the author, alluding to the juxtaposition of sibilants in ' as suit' {Nineteenth Cent., Jan. 1893). [Bradley]
- Stanza 6, line 1 The effect of the line is like that of 'Ay me ! I fondly dream ! ' in Lycidas, 56. [Bradley]
- Stanza 7 \would have told means
— would desire to be told. — ED.] [Tennyson] - Stanza 8 I have parted with thee until I die, and my paths are in the fields I know, whilst thine are in lands which I do not know. [Cf. " the undiscovered country," Hamlet, HI. i. — ED.] [Tennyson]
- Stanza 8, line 4 ' undiscover'd ': cf. 'the undiscovered country,' Hamlet, ill. i. 79. [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.