Dead
A knock is at her door, but she is weak;Strange dews have washed the paint streaks from her cheek;She does not rise, but, ah, this friend is known,And knows that he will find her all alone.So opens he the door, and with soft treadGoes straightway to the richly curtained bed.His soft hand on her dewy head he lays.A strange white light she gives him for his gaze.Then, looking on the glory of her charms,He crushes her resistless in his arms.
Stand back! look not upon this bold embrace,Nor view the calmness of the wanton's face;With joy unspeakable and 'bated breath,She keeps her last, long liaison with death!
Words in this poem
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- liaison n.
- A union, or bond of union; an intimacy; especially, an illicit intimacy between a man and a woman. [F., fr. L. ligatio, fr. ligare to bind. See Ligature, and cf. Ligation.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dead 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, Dead, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/dead.html, id L00574.
Form and metre
Dead is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEE weakA · cheekA · knownB · aloneB · treadC · bedC · laysD · gazeD · charmsE · armsE
- 2 AABB embraceA · faceA · breathB · deathB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A knock is at her door, but she is weak; | 10 | ·········· |
| Strange dews have washed the paint streaks from her cheek; | 10 | ·········· |
| She does not rise, but, ah, this friend is known, | 10 | ·········· |
| And knows that he will find her all alone. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So opens he the door, and with soft tread | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Goes straightway to the richly curtained bed. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| His soft hand on her dewy head he lays. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A strange white light she gives him for his gaze. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then, looking on the glory of her charms, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| He crushes her resistless in his arms. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Stand back! look not upon this bold embrace, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Nor view the calmness of the wanton's face; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With joy unspeakable and 'bated breath, | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| She keeps her last, long liaison with death! | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
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.