Phyllis
Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day,Few are my years, but my griefs are not few,Ever to youth should each day be a May-day,Warm wind and rose-breath and diamonded dew--Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.
Oh for the sunlight that shines on a May-day!Only the cloud hangeth over my life.Love that should bring me youth's happiest heydayBrings me but seasons of sorrow and strife;Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.
Sunshine or shadow, or gold day or gray day,Life must be lived as our destinies rule;Leisure or labor or work day or play day--Feasts for the famous and fun for the fool;Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.
Words in this poem
- diamonded a.
- Having figures like a diamond or lozenge.
- heyday interj.
- An expression of frolic and exultation, and sometimes of wonder. B. Jonson. [Cf. G. heida, or hei da, D. hei daar. Cf. Hey, and There.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Phyllis 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, Phyllis, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/phyllis.html, id L00576.
Form and metre
Phyllis is 15 lines in 3 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABA. The metre is dactylic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 74% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in dactylic 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 ABABA dayA · fewB · dayA · dewB · dayA
- 2 ABABA dayA · lifeB · heydayA · strifeB · dayA
- 3 ABABA dayA · ruleB · dayA · foolB · dayA
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 dactylic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day, | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Few are my years, but my griefs are not few, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ever to youth should each day be a May-day, | 10 | /········· |
| Warm wind and rose-breath and diamonded dew-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day. | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Oh for the sunlight that shines on a May-day! | 11 | ···/······· |
| Only the cloud hangeth over my life. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Love that should bring me youth's happiest heyday | 10 | ······/˘/· |
| Brings me but seasons of sorrow and strife; | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day. | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Sunshine or shadow, or gold day or gray day, | 11 | /··/······· |
| Life must be lived as our destinies rule; | 9 | ·····//˘· |
| Leisure or labor or work day or play day-- | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Feasts for the famous and fun for the fool; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day. | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
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.