Remembered
She sang, and I listened the whole song thro'.(It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.)The stars were out and the moon it grewFrom a wee soft glimmer way out in the blueTo a bird thro' the heavens winging.
She sang, and the song trembled down to my breast,--(It was sweet, so sweet the singing.)As a dove just out of its fledgling nest,And, putting its wings to the first sweet test,Flutters homeward so wearily winging.
She sang and I said to my heart "That song,That was sweet, so sweet i' the singing,Shall live with us and inspire us long,And thou, my heart, shalt be brave and strongFor the sake of those words a-winging."
The woman died and the song was still.(It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.)But ever I hear the same low trill,Of the song that shakes my heart with a thrill,And goes forever winging.
Words in this poem
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- wearily adv.
- In a weary manner.
- 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,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Remembered 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, Remembered, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/remembered.html, id L00654.
Form and metre
Remembered is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 -ABBA thro · singingA · grewB · blueB · wingingA
- 2 ABAAB breastA · singingB · nestA · testA · wingingB
- 3 ABAAB songA · singingB · longA · strongA · wingingB
- 4 ABAAB stillA · singingB · trillA · thrillA · wingingB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She sang, and I listened the whole song thro'. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| (It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.) | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The stars were out and the moon it grew | 9 | ········· |
| From a wee soft glimmer way out in the blue | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| To a bird thro' the heavens winging. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| She sang, and the song trembled down to my breast,-- | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| (It was sweet, so sweet the singing.) | 8 | ······/˘ |
| As a dove just out of its fledgling nest, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And, putting its wings to the first sweet test, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Flutters homeward so wearily winging. | 9 | /˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| She sang and I said to my heart "That song, | 10 | ·········· |
| That was sweet, so sweet i' the singing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Shall live with us and inspire us long, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| And thou, my heart, shalt be brave and strong | 9 | ········· |
| For the sake of those words a-winging." | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The woman died and the song was still. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| (It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.) | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But ever I hear the same low trill, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Of the song that shakes my heart with a thrill, | 10 | ·········· |
| And goes forever winging. | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
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.