The Mystery
I was not; now I am--a few days henceI shall not be; I fain would look beforeAnd after, but can neither do; some PowerOr lack of power says "no" to all I would.I stand upon a wide and sunless plain,Nor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright.Whene'er, o'ercoming fear, I dare to move,I grope without direction and by chance.Some feign to hear a voice and feel a handThat draws them ever upward thro' the gloom.But I--I hear no voice and touch no hand,Tho' oft thro' silence infinite I list,And strain my hearing to supernal sounds;Tho' oft thro' fateful darkness do I reach,And stretch my hand to find that other hand.I question of th' eternal bending skiesThat seem to neighbor with the novice earth;But they roll on, and daily shut their eyesOn me, as I one day shall do on them,And tell me not the secret that I ask.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- sunless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the sun or its rays; shaded; shadowed.
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- supernal a.
- Being in a higher place or region; locally higher; as, the supernal orbs; supernal regions. [L. supernus, from super above: cf. F. supernel. See Super-.]
- fateful a.
- Having the power of serving or accomplishing fate.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Mystery 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 Mystery, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-mystery.html, id L00501.
Form and metre
The Mystery is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 30% 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 --------A-A---AB-B-- hence · before · power · would · plain · aright · move · chance · handA · gloom · handA · list · sounds · reach · handA · skiesB · earth · eyesB · them · ask
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I was not; now I am--a few days hence | 10 | ·········· |
| I shall not be; I fain would look before | 10 | ·········· |
| And after, but can neither do; some Power | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Or lack of power says "no" to all I would. | 10 | ···/······ |
| I stand upon a wide and sunless plain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Whene'er, o'ercoming fear, I dare to move, | 11 | ··········· |
| I grope without direction and by chance. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Some feign to hear a voice and feel a hand | 10 | ·········· |
| That draws them ever upward thro' the gloom. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But I--I hear no voice and touch no hand, | 10 | ·········· |
| Tho' oft thro' silence infinite I list, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| And strain my hearing to supernal sounds; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Tho' oft thro' fateful darkness do I reach, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And stretch my hand to find that other hand. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I question of th' eternal bending skies | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| That seem to neighbor with the novice earth; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But they roll on, and daily shut their eyes | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| On me, as I one day shall do on them, | 10 | ·········· |
| And tell me not the secret that I ask. | 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.