I vex my heart with fancies dim
I vex my heart with fancies dim:He still outstript me in the race;It was but unity of placeThat made me dream I rank’d with him.
And so may Place retain us still,And he the much-beloved again,A lord of large experience, trainTo riper growth the mind and will:
And what delights can equal thoseThat stir the spirit’s inner deeps,When one that loves but knows not, reapsA truth from one that loves and knows?
About this text
I vex my heart with fancies dim 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 vex my heart with fancies dim, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-41.html, id L18401.
Form and metre
I vex my heart with fancies dim 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 94%). 97% 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 dimA · raceB · placeB · himA
- 2 ABBA stillA · againB · trainB · willA
- 3 ABBA thoseA · deepsB · reapsB · knowsA
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 vex my heart with fancies dim: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He still outstript me in the race; | 8 | ········ |
| It was but unity of place | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| That made me dream I rank’d with him. | 8 | ········ |
| And so may Place retain us still, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And he the much-beloved again, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| A lord of large experience, train | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| To riper growth the mind and will: | 8 | ········ |
| And what delights can equal those | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That stir the spirit’s inner deeps, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When one that loves but knows not, reaps | 8 | ········ |
| A truth from one that loves and knows? | 8 | ········ |
On this poem
"And what delights can equal those That stir the spirit's inner deeps, When one that loves but knows not, reaps A truth from one that loves and knows?"
There are no pleasures so sweet, as the imbibings of instruction from the lips of those who are both superior and dear to us.
It is evident that Hallam's translation in death, had exalted his friend's estimation of him whilst living, for see the Poet's note at the end of Poem xcvii.
Notes from the edition 2
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 ' still ': always. [Bradley]
- Stanza 2, line 1 * retain ': keep together. [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.