A Bridal Measure
Come, essay a sprightly measure,Tuned to some light song of pleasure.Maidens, let your brows be crownedAs we foot this merry round.
From the ground a voice is singing,From the sod a soul is springing.Who shall say 't is but a clodQuick'ning upward toward its God?
Who shall say it? Who may know it,That the clod is not a poetWaiting but a gleam to wakenIn a spirit music-shaken?
Phyllis, Phyllis, why be waiting?In the woods the birds are mating.From the tree beside the wall,Hear the am'rous robin call.
Listen to yon thrush's trilling;Phyllis, Phyllis, are you willing,When love speaks from cave and tree,Only we should silent be?
When the year, itself renewing,All the world with flowers is strewing,Then through Youth's Arcadian land,Love and song go hand in hand.
Come, unfold your vocal treasure,Sing with me a nuptial measure,--Let this springtime gambol beBridal dance for you and me.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- trilling n.
- One of tree children born at the same birth. Wright. [Cf. G. drilling.]
- strewing n.
- The act of scattering or spreading.
- arcadian a.
- Of or pertaining to Arcadia; pastoral; ideally rural; as, Arcadian simplicity or scenery. [L. Arcadius, Arcadicus, fr. Arcadia: cf. F. Arcadien, Arcadique.]
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Bridal Measure is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, A Bridal Measure, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/a-bridal-measure.html, id L00603.
Form and metre
A Bridal Measure is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABB measureA · pleasureA · crownedB · roundB
- 2 AABB singingA · springingA · clodB · godB
- 3 AABB itA · poetA · wakenB · shakenB
- 4 AABB waitingA · matingA · wallB · callB
- 5 AABB trillingA · willingA · treeB · beB
- 6 AABB renewingA · strewingA · landB · handB
- 7 AABB treasureA · measureA · beB · meB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Come, essay a sprightly measure, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Tuned to some light song of pleasure. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Maidens, let your brows be crowned | 8 | /˘·····˘ |
| As we foot this merry round. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the ground a voice is singing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| From the sod a soul is springing. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Who shall say 't is but a clod | 8 | ········ |
| Quick'ning upward toward its God? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Who shall say it? Who may know it, | 8 | ········ |
| That the clod is not a poet | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Waiting but a gleam to waken | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| In a spirit music-shaken? | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Phyllis, Phyllis, why be waiting? | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| In the woods the birds are mating. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| From the tree beside the wall, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Hear the am'rous robin call. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Listen to yon thrush's trilling; | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Phyllis, Phyllis, are you willing, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| When love speaks from cave and tree, | 7 | ······· |
| Only we should silent be? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| When the year, itself renewing, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| All the world with flowers is strewing, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Then through Youth's Arcadian land, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Love and song go hand in hand. | 7 | ······· |
| Come, unfold your vocal treasure, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Sing with me a nuptial measure,-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Let this springtime gambol be | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Bridal dance for you and me. | 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.