To One Across the Way
When at your window radiant you've stoodI've sometimes thought--forgive me if I've erred--That some slight thought of me perhaps has stirredYour heart to beat less gently than it should.I know you beautiful; that you are goodI hope--or fear--I cannot choose the word,Nor rightly suit it to the thought. I've heardReason at love's dictation never could.Blindly to this dilemma so I grope,As one whose every pathway has a snare:If you are minded in the saintly fashionOf your pure face my passion's without hope;If not, alas! I equally despair,For what to me were hope without the passion?
Words in this poem
- rightly adv.
- Straightly; directly; in front. [AS. richtlice.]
- dictation n.
- The act of dictating; the act or practice of prescribing; also that which is dictated. [L. dictatio.]
- blindly adv.
- Without sight, discernment, or understanding; without thought, investigation, knowledge, or purpose of one's own.
- dilemma n.
- An argument which presents an antagonist with two or more alternatives, but is equally conclusive against him, whichever alternative he chooses. [L. dilemma, Gr. Lemma.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To One Across the Way is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, To One Across the Way, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/to-one-across-the-way.html, id L28059.
Form and metre
To One Across the Way is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 A-BAABBACDECDE stoodA · erred · stirredB · shouldA · goodA · wordB · heardB · couldA · gropeC · snareD · fashionE · hopeC · despairD · passionE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When at your window radiant you've stood | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| I've sometimes thought--forgive me if I've erred-- | 10 | ·/··˘/···· |
| That some slight thought of me perhaps has stirred | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Your heart to beat less gently than it should. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I know you beautiful; that you are good | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| I hope--or fear--I cannot choose the word, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor rightly suit it to the thought. I've heard | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Reason at love's dictation never could. | 10 | /˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| Blindly to this dilemma so I grope, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| As one whose every pathway has a snare: | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| If you are minded in the saintly fashion | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Of your pure face my passion's without hope; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If not, alas! I equally despair, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘˘/ |
| For what to me were hope without the passion? | 11 | ·········/˘ |
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.