Dirge
Place this bunch of mignonetteIn her cold, dead hand;When the golden sun is set,Where the poplars stand,Bury her from sun and day,Lay my little love awayFrom my sight.
She was like a modest flowerBlown in sunny June,Warm as sun at noon's high hour,Chaster than the moon.Ah, her day was brief and bright,Earth has lost a star of light;She is dead.
Softly breathe her name to me,--Ah, I loved her so.Gentle let your tribute be;None may better knowHer true worth than I who weepO'er her as she lies asleep--Soft asleep.
Lay these lilies on her breast,They are not more whiteThan the soul of her, at rest'Neath their petals bright.Chant your aves soft and low,Solemn be your tread and slow,--She is dead.
Lay her here beneath the grass,Cool and green and sweet,Where the gentle brook may passCrooning at her feet.Nature's bards shall come and sing,And the fairest flowers shall springWhere she lies.
Safe above the water's swirl,She has crossed the bar;Earth has lost a precious pearl,Heaven has gained a star,That shall ever sing and shine,Till it quells this grief of mineFor my love.
Words in this poem
- mignonette n.
- A plant (Reseda odorata) having greenish flowers with orange- colored stamens, and exhaling a delicious fragrance. In Africa it is a low shrub, but further north it is usually an annual herb. [F. mignonnette, dim. of mignon darling. See 2d Minion.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- 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,]
- swirl v. t.
- To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. *177. See Swarm, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dirge 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, Dirge, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/dirge.html, id L00563.
Form and metre
Dirge is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 ABABCC- mignonetteA · handB · setA · standB · dayC · awayC · sight
- 2 ABABCC- flowerA · juneB · hourA · moonB · brightC · lightC · dead
- 3 ABABCCC meA · soB · beA · knowB · weepC · asleepC · asleepC
- 4 ABABCC- breastA · whiteB · restA · brightB · lowC · slowC · dead
- 5 ABABCC- grassA · sweetB · passA · feetB · singC · springC · lies
- 6 ABABCC- swirlA · barB · pearlA · starB · shineC · mineC · love
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Place this bunch of mignonette | 7 | ······· |
| In her cold, dead hand; | 5 | ····· |
| When the golden sun is set, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the poplars stand, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Bury her from sun and day, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Lay my little love away | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| From my sight. | 3 | ··· |
| She was like a modest flower | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Blown in sunny June, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Warm as sun at noon's high hour, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Chaster than the moon. | 5 | ····· |
| Ah, her day was brief and bright, | 7 | ······· |
| Earth has lost a star of light; | 7 | ······· |
| She is dead. | 3 | ··· |
| Softly breathe her name to me,-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Ah, I loved her so. | 5 | ····· |
| Gentle let your tribute be; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| None may better know | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Her true worth than I who weep | 7 | ······· |
| O'er her as she lies asleep-- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Soft asleep. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Lay these lilies on her breast, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| They are not more white | 5 | ····· |
| Than the soul of her, at rest | 7 | ······· |
| 'Neath their petals bright. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Chant your aves soft and low, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Solemn be your tread and slow,-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| She is dead. | 3 | ··· |
| Lay her here beneath the grass, | 7 | ······· |
| Cool and green and sweet, | 5 | ····· |
| Where the gentle brook may pass | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Crooning at her feet. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Nature's bards shall come and sing, | 7 | /˘····· |
| And the fairest flowers shall spring | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Where she lies. | 3 | ··· |
| Safe above the water's swirl, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| She has crossed the bar; | 5 | ····· |
| Earth has lost a precious pearl, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Heaven has gained a star, | 7 | /˘··˘·· |
| That shall ever sing and shine, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Till it quells this grief of mine | 7 | ······· |
| For my love. | 3 | ··· |
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.