Ephemera
"Your eyes that once were never weary of mine"Are bowed in sorrow under pendulous lids,"Because our love is waning."
And then she:"Although our love is waning, let us stand"By the lone border of the lake once more,"Together in that hour of gentleness"When the poor tired child, Passion, falls asleep:"How far away the stars seem, and how far"Is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart!"
Pensive they paced along the faded leaves,While slowly he whose hand held hers replied:"Passion has often worn our wandering hearts."
The woods were round them, and the yellow leavesFell like faint meteors in the gloom, and onceA rabbit old and lame limped down the path;Autumn was over him: and now they stoodOn the lone border of the lake once more:Turning, he saw that she had thrust dead leavesGathered in silence, dewy as her eyes,In bosom and hair.
"Ah, do not mourn," he said,"That we are tired, for other loves await us;"Hate on and love through unrepining hours."Before us lies eternity; our souls"Are love, and a continual farewell."
Words in this poem
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ephemera is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #38877; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, Ephemera, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38877, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-poems/ephemera.html, id L16688.
Form and metre
Ephemera is 26 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 3 lines end 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 pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
- 4 A----A-- leavesA · once · path · stood · more · leavesA · eyes · hair
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Your eyes that once were never weary of mine | 10 | ·····//˘·· |
| "Are bowed in sorrow under pendulous lids, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "Because our love is waning." | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And then she: | 3 | ··· |
| "Although our love is waning, let us stand | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| "By the lone border of the lake once more, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| "Together in that hour of gentleness | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘·/˘˘ |
| "When the poor tired child, Passion, falls asleep: | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| "How far away the stars seem, and how far | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| "Is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart!" | 10 | ·/········ |
| Pensive they paced along the faded leaves, | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| While slowly he whose hand held hers replied: | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| "Passion has often worn our wandering hearts." | 10 | /˘·/˘·//˘· |
| The woods were round them, and the yellow leaves | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fell like faint meteors in the gloom, and once | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A rabbit old and lame limped down the path; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Autumn was over him: and now they stood | 10 | /˘········ |
| On the lone border of the lake once more: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Turning, he saw that she had thrust dead leaves | 10 | /˘········ |
| Gathered in silence, dewy as her eyes, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| In bosom and hair. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| "Ah, do not mourn," he said, | 6 | ······ |
| "That we are tired, for other loves await us; | 11 | ···/·/˘·˘/· |
| "Hate on and love through unrepining hours. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| "Before us lies eternity; our souls | 10 | ····˘/˘˘/· |
| "Are love, and a continual farewell." | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·/ |
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.