Mare Rubrum
In Life's Red Sea with faith I plant my feet,And wait the sound of that sustaining wordWhich long ago the men of Israel heard,When Pharaoh's host behind them, fierce and fleet,Raged on, consuming with revengeful heat.Why are the barrier waters still unstirred?--That struggling faith may die of hope deferred?Is God not sitting in His ancient seat?
The billows swirl above my trembling limbs,And almost chill my anxious heart to doubtAnd disbelief, long conquered and defied.But tho' the music of my hopeful hymnsIs drowned by curses of the raging rout,No voice yet bids th' opposing waves divide!
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- hopeful a.
- Full of hope, or agreeable expectation; inclined to hope; expectant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mare Rubrum 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, Mare Rubrum, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/mare-rubrum.html, id L00633.
Form and metre
Mare Rubrum is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 21% 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 ABBAABBA feetA · wordB · heardB · fleetA · heatA · unstirredB · deferredB · seatA
- 2 ABCABC limbsA · doubtB · defiedC · hymnsA · routB · divideC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In Life's Red Sea with faith I plant my feet, | 10 | ·········· |
| And wait the sound of that sustaining word | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Which long ago the men of Israel heard, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| When Pharaoh's host behind them, fierce and fleet, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Raged on, consuming with revengeful heat. | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Why are the barrier waters still unstirred?-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| That struggling faith may die of hope deferred? | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Is God not sitting in His ancient seat? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The billows swirl above my trembling limbs, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And almost chill my anxious heart to doubt | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And disbelief, long conquered and defied. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| But tho' the music of my hopeful hymns | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Is drowned by curses of the raging rout, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| No voice yet bids th' opposing waves divide! | 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.