Early Taken
SHE seemed so young, so young to die!Life, like a dawning, rosy day,Stretched from her fair young feet away,And beams from the just-risen sunBeckoned and wooed and urged her on.She met the light with happy eyes,Fresh with the dews of Paradise,And held her sweet hands out to graspThe joys that crowded to her clasp,Each a surprise, and all so dear:How could we guess that night was near?
She seemed so young, so young to die!When the old go, we sadly say,’Tis Nature’s own appointed way;The ripe grain gathered in must be,The ripe fruit from the laden tree,The sear leaf quit the bare, brown bough;Summer is done, ’tis autumn now,God’s harvest-time; the sheaves among,His angels raise the reaping-song,And though we grieve, we would not stayThe shining sickles on their way.
She seemed so young, so young to die!We question wearily and vainWhat never answer shall make plain:“Can it be this the good Lord meantWhich frustrates his benign intent?Why was she planted like a flowerIn mortal sun and mortal shower,And left to grow, and taught to bloom,To gather beauty and perfume;Why were we set to train and tendIf only for this bootless end?”
She seemed so young, so young to die!But age and youth,—what do they meanMeasured by the eternal schemeOf God, and sifted out and laidIn his unerring scales and weighed?How may we test their sense or worth,—These poor glib phrases, born of earth,False accents of a long exile,—Or know the angels do not smile,Holding out truth’s immortal gauge,To hear us prate of youth and age?
She seemed so young, so young to die!So needed here by every one,Nor there; for heaven has need of none.And yet, how can we tell or say?Heaven is so far, so far away!How do we know its blissful storeIs full and needeth nothing more?It may be that some tiny spaceLacked just that little angel face,Or the full sunshine missed one rayUntil our darling found the way.
Words in this poem
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- wearily adv.
- In a weary manner.
- 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,]
- bootless a.
- Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
- unerring a.
- Committing no mistake; incapable or error or failure certain; sure; unfailing; as, the unerring wisdom of God.
- glib a.
- Smooth; slippery; as, ice is glib. [Prob. fr. D. glibberen, glippen, to slide, glibberig, glipperig, glib, slippery.]
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Early Taken is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Early Taken, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/early-taken.html, id L23428.
Form and metre
Early Taken is 55 lines in 5 stanzas of 11 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 -AA----BBCC die · dayA · awayA · sun · on · eyes · paradise · graspB · claspB · dearC · nearC
- 2 ABBAACC--BB dieA · sayB · wayB · beA · treeA · boughC · nowC · among · song · stayB · wayB
- 3 -AABBCCDDEE die · vainA · plainA · meantB · intentB · flowerC · showerC · bloomD · perfumeD · tendE · endE
- 4 ---AABBCCDD die · mean · scheme · laidA · weighedA · worthB · earthB · exileC · smileC · gaugeD · ageD
- 5 -AABBCCDDBB die · oneA · noneA · sayB · awayB · storeC · moreC · spaceD · faceD · rayB · wayB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SHE seemed so young, so young to die! | 8 | ········ |
| Life, like a dawning, rosy day, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Stretched from her fair young feet away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And beams from the just-risen sun | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beckoned and wooed and urged her on. | 8 | /˘······ |
| She met the light with happy eyes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fresh with the dews of Paradise, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And held her sweet hands out to grasp | 8 | ········ |
| The joys that crowded to her clasp, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each a surprise, and all so dear: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| How could we guess that night was near? | 8 | ········ |
| She seemed so young, so young to die! | 8 | ········ |
| When the old go, we sadly say, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| ’Tis Nature’s own appointed way; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The ripe grain gathered in must be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The ripe fruit from the laden tree, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sear leaf quit the bare, brown bough; | 8 | ········ |
| Summer is done, ’tis autumn now, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| God’s harvest-time; the sheaves among, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His angels raise the reaping-song, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And though we grieve, we would not stay | 8 | ········ |
| The shining sickles on their way. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| She seemed so young, so young to die! | 8 | ········ |
| We question wearily and vain | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| What never answer shall make plain: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| “Can it be this the good Lord meant | 8 | ········ |
| Which frustrates his benign intent? | 8 | ·/··˘/˘/ |
| Why was she planted like a flower | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| In mortal sun and mortal shower, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And left to grow, and taught to bloom, | 8 | ········ |
| To gather beauty and perfume; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Why were we set to train and tend | 8 | ········ |
| If only for this bootless end?” | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She seemed so young, so young to die! | 8 | ········ |
| But age and youth,—what do they mean | 8 | ········ |
| Measured by the eternal scheme | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Of God, and sifted out and laid | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In his unerring scales and weighed? | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| How may we test their sense or worth,— | 8 | ········ |
| These poor glib phrases, born of earth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| False accents of a long exile,— | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| Or know the angels do not smile, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Holding out truth’s immortal gauge, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| To hear us prate of youth and age? | 8 | ········ |
| She seemed so young, so young to die! | 8 | ········ |
| So needed here by every one, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor there; for heaven has need of none. | 8 | ···/···· |
| And yet, how can we tell or say? | 8 | ········ |
| Heaven is so far, so far away! | 8 | /·····˘/ |
| How do we know its blissful store | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is full and needeth nothing more? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| It may be that some tiny space | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lacked just that little angel face, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or the full sunshine missed one ray | 8 | ···/···· |
| Until our darling found the way. | 8 | ··//˘··· |
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.