Non Omnis Moriar
OH, blue and glad the summer skies,And golden green the widths of plainWhere sun and shadow mingled lay,As forth we went, with gay intent,Across the Mesa’s flowery rise,To where the shimmering mountain chainBeckoned and shone from far away!
The noontide flashed, the noontide sang,Along the glittering distant track;The dancing wind made answer brave.It seemed that all kept festival,That joy fires burned and joy bells rang;But still our hearts went hovering backTo sit beside one lonely grave.
It seems so strange, so half unkind,That still the earth with life should stir,That still we smile, and still we jest.And drink our share of sun and airAnd joy—and leave her there behind;Nor share such happy things with herWho always gave us all her best!
And yet—our love is loyal still;And yet—she joyed to have us gay;And yet—the moving world moves on,And does not wait our sad estate,To soothe our hurt or note our ill,But, touch by touch, and day by day,Heals us, and changes every one.
But she? What is her work to do?For never tell me that she liesInactive, lifeless, in the mould,Content to keep a moveless sleepWhile worlds revolve in courses new.Her fiery zeal, her quick emprise,Could never brook such rest to hold!
That grave but hides her worn-out dress,—One of God’s sure-winged messengersI see her, on swift errand sped,Glad of the task which strong souls ask,Earth’s sharpest pain grown littlenessIn the new tide of life made hers,Smiling that we should call her dead!
Smile on, dear Heart, until the dawn!When once the eternal heights are bared,And the long earthly shadows flit,And with clear eyes we front the skies,We too shall smile with heavenly scornAt the dull, human selves who daredTo call life “Death” and pity it!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- shimmering n.
- A gleam or glimmering.
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- moveless a.
- Motionless; fixed.
- emprise n.
- An enterprise; endeavor; adventure. [OF. emprise, fr. emprendre to undertake; pref. em- (L. in) + F. prendre to take, L. prehendere, prendere; prae before + a verb akin to E. get. See Get, and cf. ]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- 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
Non Omnis Moriar 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, Non Omnis Moriar, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/non-omnis-moriar.html, id L23465.
Form and metre
Non Omnis Moriar is 49 lines in 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See 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 ABC-ABC skiesA · plainB · layC · intent · riseA · chainB · awayC
- 2 ABC-ABC sangA · trackB · braveC · festival · rangA · backB · graveC
- 3 ABC-ABC unkindA · stirB · jestC · air · behindA · herB · bestC
- 4 AB--AB- stillA · gayB · on · estate · illA · dayB · one
- 5 ABC-ABC doA · liesB · mouldC · sleep · newA · empriseB · holdC
- 6 A-B-A-B dressA · messengers · spedB · ask · littlenessA · hers · deadB
- 7 -AB--AB dawn · baredA · flitB · skies · scorn · daredA · itB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OH, blue and glad the summer skies, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And golden green the widths of plain | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where sun and shadow mingled lay, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| As forth we went, with gay intent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Across the Mesa’s flowery rise, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| To where the shimmering mountain chain | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Beckoned and shone from far away! | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| The noontide flashed, the noontide sang, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Along the glittering distant track; | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The dancing wind made answer brave. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| It seemed that all kept festival, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That joy fires burned and joy bells rang; | 8 | ··/····· |
| But still our hearts went hovering back | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| To sit beside one lonely grave. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| It seems so strange, so half unkind, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That still the earth with life should stir, | 8 | ········ |
| That still we smile, and still we jest. | 8 | ········ |
| And drink our share of sun and air | 8 | ··/····· |
| And joy—and leave her there behind; | 8 | ········ |
| Nor share such happy things with her | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who always gave us all her best! | 8 | ·/······ |
| And yet—our love is loyal still; | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And yet—she joyed to have us gay; | 8 | ········ |
| And yet—the moving world moves on, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And does not wait our sad estate, | 8 | ····/·˘/ |
| To soothe our hurt or note our ill, | 8 | ··/···/· |
| But, touch by touch, and day by day, | 8 | ········ |
| Heals us, and changes every one. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But she? What is her work to do? | 8 | ········ |
| For never tell me that she lies | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Inactive, lifeless, in the mould, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Content to keep a moveless sleep | 9 | /˘······· |
| While worlds revolve in courses new. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Her fiery zeal, her quick emprise, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Could never brook such rest to hold! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That grave but hides her worn-out dress,— | 8 | ········ |
| One of God’s sure-winged messengers | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I see her, on swift errand sped, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Glad of the task which strong souls ask, | 8 | ········ |
| Earth’s sharpest pain grown littleness | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| In the new tide of life made hers, | 8 | ········ |
| Smiling that we should call her dead! | 8 | /˘······ |
| Smile on, dear Heart, until the dawn! | 8 | ········ |
| When once the eternal heights are bared, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| And the long earthly shadows flit, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| And with clear eyes we front the skies, | 8 | ········ |
| We too shall smile with heavenly scorn | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At the dull, human selves who dared | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To call life “Death” and pity it! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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