Requiem
Taken from men this morning,Carried by men to-day,Met by the gods with bannersWho marshalled her away.
One little maid from playmates,One little mind from school, --There must be guests in Eden;All the rooms are full.
Far as the east from even,Dim as the border star, --Courtiers quaint, in kingdoms,Our departed are.
Words in this poem
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Requiem is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, Requiem, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/requiem.html, id L03726.
Form and metre
Requiem is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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-A morning · dayA · banners · awayA
- 3 -A-A even · starA · kingdoms · areA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Taken from men this morning, | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Carried by men to-day, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Met by the gods with banners | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Who marshalled her away. | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| One little maid from playmates, | 7 | ·/˘··/· |
| One little mind from school, -- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There must be guests in Eden; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| All the rooms are full. | 5 | ····· |
| Far as the east from even, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Dim as the border star, -- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Courtiers quaint, in kingdoms, | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| Our departed are. | 6 | /˘˘/˘· |
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.