Too Late
Delayed till she had ceased to know,Delayed till in its vest of snowHer loving bosom lay.An hour behind the fleeting breath,Later by just an hour than death, --Oh, lagging yesterday!
Could she have guessed that it would be;Could but a crier of the gleeHave climbed the distant hill;Had not the bliss so slow a pace, --Who knows but this surrendered faceWere undefeated still?
Oh, if there may departing beAny forgot by victoryIn her imperial round,Show them this meek apparelled thing,That could not stop to be a king,Doubtful if it be crowned!
Words in this poem
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Too Late 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, Too Late, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/too-late.html, id L03620.
Form and metre
Too Late is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABCCB knowA · snowA · layB · breathC · deathC · yesterdayB
- 2 AABCCB beA · gleeA · hillB · paceC · faceC · stillB
- 3 AABCCB beA · victoryA · roundB · thingC · kingC · crownedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Delayed till she had ceased to know, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Delayed till in its vest of snow | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Her loving bosom lay. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| An hour behind the fleeting breath, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Later by just an hour than death, -- | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| Oh, lagging yesterday! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Could she have guessed that it would be; | 8 | ········ |
| Could but a crier of the glee | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Have climbed the distant hill; | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| Had not the bliss so slow a pace, -- | 8 | ········ |
| Who knows but this surrendered face | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Were undefeated still? | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Oh, if there may departing be | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Any forgot by victory | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘˘ |
| In her imperial round, | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| Show them this meek apparelled thing, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That could not stop to be a king, | 8 | ········ |
| Doubtful if it be crowned! | 7 | /˘····˘ |
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.