The Barrier
The Midnight wooed the Morning-Star,And prayed her: "Love come nearer;Your swinging coldly there afarTo me but makes you dearer!"
The Morning-Star was pale with doleAs said she, low replying:"Oh, lover mine, soul of my soul,For you I too am sighing.
"But One ordained when we were born,In spite of Love's insistence,That Night might only view the MornAdoring at a distance."
But as she spoke the jealous SunAcross the heavens panted."Oh, whining fools," he cried, "have done;Your wishes shall be granted!"
He hurled his flaming lances far;The twain stood unaffrighted--And Midnight and the Morning-StarLay down in death united!
Words in this poem
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- insistence n.
- The quality of insisting, or being urgent or pressing; the act of dwelling upon as of special importance; persistence; urgency.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- 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,]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Barrier 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, The Barrier, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-barrier.html, id L00607.
Form and metre
The Barrier is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 ABAB starA · nearerB · afarA · dearerB
- 2 ABAB doleA · replyingB · soulA · sighingB
- 3 ABAB bornA · insistenceB · mornA · distanceB
- 4 ABAB sunA · pantedB · doneA · grantedB
- 5 ABAB farA · unaffrightedB · starA · unitedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Midnight wooed the Morning-Star, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And prayed her: "Love come nearer; | 8 | ··˘···/˘ |
| Your swinging coldly there afar | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| To me but makes you dearer!" | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The Morning-Star was pale with dole | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As said she, low replying: | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| "Oh, lover mine, soul of my soul, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For you I too am sighing. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "But One ordained when we were born, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| In spite of Love's insistence, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| That Night might only view the Morn | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Adoring at a distance." | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| But as she spoke the jealous Sun | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Across the heavens panted. | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| "Oh, whining fools," he cried, "have done; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your wishes shall be granted!" | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| He hurled his flaming lances far; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The twain stood unaffrighted-- | 7 | ······· |
| And Midnight and the Morning-Star | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Lay down in death united! | 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.