An Old Memory
How sweet the music soundedThat summer long ago,When you were by my side, love,To list its gentle flow.
I saw your eyes a-shining,I felt your rippling hair,I kissed your pearly cheek, love,And had no thought of care.
And gay or sad the music,With subtle charm replete;I found in after years, love'Twas you that made it sweet.
For standing where we heard it,I hear again the strain;It wakes my heart, but thrills itWith sad, mysterious pain.
It pulses not so joyousAs when you stood with me,And hand in hand we listenedTo that low melody.
Oh, could the years turn back, love!Oh, could events be changedTo what they were that time, love,Before we were estranged;
Wert thou once more a maidenWhose smile was gold to me;Were I once more the loverWhose word was life to thee,--
O God! could all be altered,The pain, the grief, the strife,And wert thou--as thou shouldst be--My true and loyal wife!
But all my tears are idle,And all my wishes vain.What once you were to me, love,You may not be again.
For I, alas! like others,Have missed my dearest aim.I asked for love. Oh, mockery!Fate comes to me with fame!
Words in this poem
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Old Memory 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, An Old Memory, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/an-old-memory.html, id L00893.
Form and metre
An Old Memory is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in short 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 sounded · agoA · love · flowA
- 2 -A-A shining · hairA · love · careA
- 3 -A-A music · repleteA · love · sweetA
- 4 ABAB itA · strainB · itA · painB
- 6 ABAB loveA · changedB · loveA · estrangedB
- 7 -A-A maiden · meA · lover · theeA
- 8 -A-A altered · strifeA · be · wifeA
- 9 -A-A idle · vainA · love · againA
- 10 -A-A others · aimA · mockery · fameA
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How sweet the music sounded | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| That summer long ago, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| When you were by my side, love, | 7 | ······· |
| To list its gentle flow. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I saw your eyes a-shining, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I felt your rippling hair, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| I kissed your pearly cheek, love, | 8 | ··˘·/˘·· |
| And had no thought of care. | 6 | ······ |
| And gay or sad the music, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With subtle charm replete; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| I found in after years, love | 7 | ······· |
| 'Twas you that made it sweet. | 6 | ······ |
| For standing where we heard it, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I hear again the strain; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| It wakes my heart, but thrills it | 7 | ······· |
| With sad, mysterious pain. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| It pulses not so joyous | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| As when you stood with me, | 6 | ······ |
| And hand in hand we listened | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| To that low melody. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Oh, could the years turn back, love! | 7 | ······· |
| Oh, could events be changed | 7 | ··˘/··˘ |
| To what they were that time, love, | 7 | ······· |
| Before we were estranged; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Wert thou once more a maiden | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Whose smile was gold to me; | 6 | ······ |
| Were I once more the lover | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Whose word was life to thee,-- | 6 | ······ |
| O God! could all be altered, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The pain, the grief, the strife, | 6 | ······ |
| And wert thou--as thou shouldst be-- | 7 | ······· |
| My true and loyal wife! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But all my tears are idle, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And all my wishes vain. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What once you were to me, love, | 7 | ······· |
| You may not be again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For I, alas! like others, | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Have missed my dearest aim. | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| I asked for love. Oh, mockery! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Fate comes to me with fame! | 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.