You Will Forget Me
You will forget me. The years are so tender,They bind up the wounds which we think are so deep;This dream of our youth will fade out as the splendorFades from the skies when the sun sinks to sleep;The cloud of forgetfulness, over and overWill banish the last rosy colors away,And the fingers of time will weave garlands to coverThe scar which you think is a life-mark to-day.
You will forget me. The one boon you covetNow above all things will soon seem no prize;And the heart, which you hold not in keeping to prove itTrue or untrue, will lose worth in your eyes.The one drop to-day, that you deem only wantingTo fill your life-cup to the brim, soon will seemBut a valueless mite; and the ghost that is hauntingThe aisles of your heart will pass out with the dream.
You will forget me; will thank me for sayingThe words which you think are so pointed with pain.Time loves a new lay; and the dirge he is playingWill change for you soon to a livelier strain.I shall pass from your life--I shall pass out forever,And these hours we have spent will be sunk in the past.Youth buries its dead; grief kills seldom or never,And forgetfulness covers all sorrows at last.
Words in this poem
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- valueless a.
- Being of no value; having no worth.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
You Will Forget Me 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, You Will Forget Me, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/you-will-forget-me.html, id L22179.
Form and metre
You Will Forget Me is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 ABAB-C-C tenderA · deepB · splendorA · sleepB · over · awayC · cover · dayC
- 2 ABAB-C-C covetA · prizeB · itA · eyesB · wanting · seemC · haunting · dreamC
- 3 ABABCDCD sayingA · painB · playingA · strainB · foreverC · pastD · neverC · lastD
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You will forget me. The years are so tender, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| They bind up the wounds which we think are so deep; | 11 | ··········· |
| This dream of our youth will fade out as the splendor | 12 | ···/······/˘ |
| Fades from the skies when the sun sinks to sleep; | 10 | ·········· |
| The cloud of forgetfulness, over and over | 10 | ···˘/˘˘··· |
| Will banish the last rosy colors away, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘/ |
| And the fingers of time will weave garlands to cover | 13 | ··/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| The scar which you think is a life-mark to-day. | 11 | ··········· |
| You will forget me. The one boon you covet | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Now above all things will soon seem no prize; | 10 | ·········· |
| And the heart, which you hold not in keeping to prove it | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| True or untrue, will lose worth in your eyes. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The one drop to-day, that you deem only wanting | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| To fill your life-cup to the brim, soon will seem | 11 | ··········· |
| But a valueless mite; and the ghost that is haunting | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| The aisles of your heart will pass out with the dream. | 11 | ··········· |
| You will forget me; will thank me for saying | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| The words which you think are so pointed with pain. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Time loves a new lay; and the dirge he is playing | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Will change for you soon to a livelier strain. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I shall pass from your life--I shall pass out forever, | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| And these hours we have spent will be sunk in the past. | 12 | ··/········· |
| Youth buries its dead; grief kills seldom or never, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·/ |
| And forgetfulness covers all sorrows at last. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
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.