After the Quarrel
So we, who 've supped the self-same cup,To-night must lay our friendship by;Your wrath has burned your judgment up,Hot breath has blown the ashes high.You say that you are wronged--ah, well,I count that friendship poor, at bestA bauble, a mere bagatelle,That cannot stand so slight a test.
I fain would still have been your friend,And talked and laughed and loved with you;But since it must, why, let it end;The false but dies, 't is not the true.So we are favored, you and I,Who only want the living truth.It was not good to nurse the lie;'T is well it died in harmless youth.
I go from you to-night to sleep.Why, what's the odds? why should I grieve?I have no fund of tears to weepFor happenings that undeceive.The days shall come, the days shall goJust as they came and went before.The sun shall shine, the streams shall flowThough you and I are friends no more.
And in the volume of my years,Where all my thoughts and acts shall be,The page whereon your name appearsShall be forever sealed to me.Not that I hate you over-much,'T is less of hate than love defied;Howe'er, our hands no more shall touch,We 'll go our ways, the world is wide.
Words in this poem
- bauble n.
- A trifling piece of finery; a gewgaw; that which is gay and showy without real value; a cheap, showy plaything. [Cf. OF. baubel a child's plaything, F. babiole, It. babbola, LL. baubellum gem, jewel, L. babulus,a baburrus, foolish.]
- bagatelle n.
- A trifle; a thing of no importance. [F., fr. It. bagatella; cf. Prov. It. bagata trifle, OF. bague, Pr. bagua, bundle. See Bag, n.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
- undeceive v. t.
- To cause to be no longer deceived; to free from deception, fraud, fallacy, or mistake. South. [1st pref. un- + deceive.]
- 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,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
After the Quarrel 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, After the Quarrel, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/after-the-quarrel.html, id L00525.
Form and metre
After the Quarrel is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 16% 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 ABABCDCD cupA · byB · upA · highB · wellC · bestD · bagatelleC · testD
- 2 ABABCDCD friendA · youB · endA · trueB · iC · truthD · lieC · youthD
- 3 ABABCDCD sleepA · grieveB · weepA · undeceiveB · goC · beforeD · flowC · moreD
- 4 ABABCDCD yearsA · beB · appearsA · meB · muchC · defiedD · touchC · wideD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So we, who 've supped the self-same cup, | 9 | ········· |
| To-night must lay our friendship by; | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Your wrath has burned your judgment up, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hot breath has blown the ashes high. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You say that you are wronged--ah, well, | 8 | ········ |
| I count that friendship poor, at best | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A bauble, a mere bagatelle, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| That cannot stand so slight a test. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I fain would still have been your friend, | 8 | ········ |
| And talked and laughed and loved with you; | 8 | ········ |
| But since it must, why, let it end; | 8 | ········ |
| The false but dies, 't is not the true. | 9 | ········· |
| So we are favored, you and I, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who only want the living truth. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| It was not good to nurse the lie; | 8 | ········ |
| 'T is well it died in harmless youth. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I go from you to-night to sleep. | 8 | ········ |
| Why, what's the odds? why should I grieve? | 8 | ········ |
| I have no fund of tears to weep | 8 | ········ |
| For happenings that undeceive. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The days shall come, the days shall go | 8 | ········ |
| Just as they came and went before. | 8 | ········ |
| The sun shall shine, the streams shall flow | 8 | ········ |
| Though you and I are friends no more. | 8 | ········ |
| And in the volume of my years, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where all my thoughts and acts shall be, | 8 | ········ |
| The page whereon your name appears | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Shall be forever sealed to me. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Not that I hate you over-much, | 8 | ········ |
| 'T is less of hate than love defied; | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Howe'er, our hands no more shall touch, | 8 | ··/····· |
| We 'll go our ways, the world is wide. | 9 | ···/····· |
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.