Ad Finem
On the white throat of the' useless passionThat scorched my soul with its burning breathI clutched my fingers in murderous fashion,And gathered them close in a grip of death;For why should I fan, or feed with fuel,A love that showed me but blank despair?So my hold was firm, and my grasp was cruel--I meant to strangle it then and there!
I thought it was dead. But with no warning,It rose from its grave last night, and cameAnd stood by my bed till the early morning,And over and over it spoke your name.Its throat was red where my hands had held it;It burned my brow with its scorching breath;And I said, the moment my eyes beheld it,"A love like this can know no death."
For just one kiss that your lips have givenIn the lost and beautiful past to meI would gladly barter my hopes of HeavenAnd all the bliss of Eternity.For never a joy are the angels keeping,To lay at my feet in Paradise,Like that of into your strong arms creeping,And looking into your love-lit eyes.
I know, in the way that sins are reckoned,This thought is a sin of the deepest dye;But I know, too, if an angel beckoned,Standing close by the Throne on High,And you, adown by the gates infernal,Should open your loving arms and smile,I would turn my back on things supernal,To lie on your breast a little while.
To know for an hour you were mine completely--Mine in body and soul, my own--I would bear unending tortures sweetly,With not a murmur and not a moan.A lighter sin or a lesser errorMight change through hope or fear divine;But there is no fear, and hell has no terror,To change or alter a love like mine.
Words in this poem
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- supernal a.
- Being in a higher place or region; locally higher; as, the supernal orbs; supernal regions. [L. supernus, from super above: cf. F. supernel. See Super-.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ad Finem is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Ad Finem, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/ad-finem.html, id L22176.
Form and metre
Ad Finem is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCD passionA · breathB · fashionA · deathB · fuelC · despairD · cruelC · thereD
- 2 ABABCDCD warningA · cameB · morningA · nameB · itC · breathD · itC · deathD
- 3 ----A-A- given · me · heaven · eternity · keepingA · paradise · creepingA · eyes
- 4 ABABCDCD reckonedA · dyeB · beckonedA · highB · infernalC · smileD · supernalC · whileD
- 5 ABABCDCD completelyA · ownB · sweetlyA · moanB · errorC · divineD · terrorC · mineD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On the white throat of the' useless passion | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| That scorched my soul with its burning breath | 10 | ··˘····/˘· |
| I clutched my fingers in murderous fashion, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| And gathered them close in a grip of death; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For why should I fan, or feed with fuel, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| A love that showed me but blank despair? | 10 | ····˘···˘/ |
| So my hold was firm, and my grasp was cruel-- | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I meant to strangle it then and there! | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I thought it was dead. But with no warning, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| It rose from its grave last night, and came | 9 | ········· |
| And stood by my bed till the early morning, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And over and over it spoke your name. | 10 | ·········· |
| Its throat was red where my hands had held it; | 10 | ·········· |
| It burned my brow with its scorching breath; | 10 | ··˘····/˘· |
| And I said, the moment my eyes beheld it, | 11 | ····/˘··˘/· |
| "A love like this can know no death." | 8 | ········ |
| For just one kiss that your lips have given | 10 | ········/˘ |
| In the lost and beautiful past to me | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| I would gladly barter my hopes of Heaven | 11 | ··/˘/˘···/˘ |
| And all the bliss of Eternity. | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| For never a joy are the angels keeping, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| To lay at my feet in Paradise, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Like that of into your strong arms creeping, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And looking into your love-lit eyes. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I know, in the way that sins are reckoned, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| This thought is a sin of the deepest dye; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But I know, too, if an angel beckoned, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Standing close by the Throne on High, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And you, adown by the gates infernal, | 10 | ··˘/···˘/˘ |
| Should open your loving arms and smile, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| I would turn my back on things supernal, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| To lie on your breast a little while. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To know for an hour you were mine completely-- | 11 | ····/···˘/˘ |
| Mine in body and soul, my own-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| I would bear unending tortures sweetly, | 10 | ···˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| With not a murmur and not a moan. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A lighter sin or a lesser error | 10 | ·/˘···/˘/˘ |
| Might change through hope or fear divine; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But there is no fear, and hell has no terror, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To change or alter a love like mine. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
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.