I leave thy praises unexpress’d
I leave thy praises unexpress’dIn verse that brings myself relief,And by the measure of my griefI leave thy greatness to be guess’d;
What practice howsoe’er expertIn fitting aptest words to things,Or voice the richest-toned that sings,Hath power to give thee as thou wert?
I care not in these fading daysTo raise a cry that lasts not long,And round thee with the breeze of songTo stir a little dust of praise.
Thy leaf has perish’d in the green,And, while we breathe beneath the sun,The world which credits what is doneIs cold to all that might have been.
So here shall silence guard thy fame;But somewhere, out of human view,Whate’er thy hands are set to doIs wrought with tumult of acclaim.
Words in this poem
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- 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,]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- acclaim v. i.
- To shout applause.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I leave thy praises unexpress’d 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 leave thy praises unexpress’d, in In Memoriam A.H.H. (1850), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-in-memoriam/section-73.html, id L18433.
Form and metre
I leave thy praises unexpress’d is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% 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 unexpress'dA · reliefB · griefB · guess'dA
- 2 ABBA expertA · thingsB · singsB · wertA
- 3 ABBA daysA · longB · songB · praiseA
- 4 ABBA greenA · sunB · doneB · beenA
- 5 ABBA fameA · viewB · doB · acclaimA
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 leave thy praises unexpress’d | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In verse that brings myself relief, | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| And by the measure of my grief | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I leave thy greatness to be guess’d; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What practice howsoe’er expert | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| In fitting aptest words to things, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or voice the richest-toned that sings, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hath power to give thee as thou wert? | 8 | ·/······ |
| I care not in these fading days | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To raise a cry that lasts not long, | 8 | ········ |
| And round thee with the breeze of song | 8 | ········ |
| To stir a little dust of praise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy leaf has perish’d in the green, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, while we breathe beneath the sun, | 8 | ········ |
| The world which credits what is done | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is cold to all that might have been. | 8 | ········ |
| So here shall silence guard thy fame; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But somewhere, out of human view, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Whate’er thy hands are set to do | 9 | ˘˘/······ |
| Is wrought with tumult of acclaim. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
On this poem
Indeed, he does not care
"in these fading days To raise a cry that lasts not long, And round thee with the breeze of song, To stir a little dust of praise."
The world only applauds accomplished success, and does not care for what might have been done, had opportunity been given. It is therefore sufficient that silence should guard Hallam's fame here; because the writer is assured, that what he is elsewhere doing
"Is wrought with tumult of acclaim."
One cannot but feel that were it not for this immortal elegy, its subject would have been long since forgotten, like other promising youths who have died in their Spring.
Notes from the edition 8
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 * in a poem which is written only to relieve my sorrow,' rather than 'though to sing thy praise would bring me relief.' Cf. LXXVII. stanza 4. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3 the breeze of song. Cf. Pindar, Pyth. iv. 3: ofipov v [Tennyson]
- Stanza 3, line 1 ' these fading days ': this transitory element of time: he does riot refer to his own time in particular. * Fading ' may be suggested by the 'dying' and 'fading3 of LXXIII. 13, 14. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 3 'breeze of song': cf. oDpos tym^, Pindar, Pyth. 4, 3 (Collins); and Aen. VII. 646, Ad nos vix tenuis famae perlabitur aura. [Bradley]
- Stanza 3, line 4 Gatty quotes from the Vision of Sin:
All the windy ways of men Are but dust that rises up, And is lightly laid again. With which cf. Young, Night-thoughts, n.:
Since by life's passing breath, blown up from Earth, Light as the summer's dust, we take in air A moment's giddy flight, and fall again. [Bradley] - Stanza 4, line 1 Thy leaf has perish' d in the green. At twenty-three. [Tennyson]
- Stanza 4, line 3 'credits': perhaps simply 'believes'; but probably rather ' places to the credit of (the doer),' whence comes the further idea of holding in honour. Cf. LXXX. 1 3. [Bradley]
- Stanza 5, line 4 Cf. The Dying Swan, ' the tumult of their acclaim.' [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.