To an Ingrate
This is to-day, a golden summer's dayAnd yet--and yetMy vengeful soul will not forgetThe past, forever now forgot, you say.
From that half height where I had sadly climbed,I stretched my hand,I lone in all that land,Down there, where, helpless, you were limed.
Our fingers clasped, and dragging me a pace,You struggled up.It is a bitter Cup,That now for naught, you turn away your face.
I shall remember this for aye and aye.Whate'er may come,Although my lips are dumb,My spirit holds you to that yesterday.
Words in this poem
- vengeful a.
- Vindictive; retributive; revengeful.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To an Ingrate 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, To an Ingrate, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/to-an-ingrate.html, id L00792.
Form and metre
To an Ingrate is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 dayA · yetB · forgetB · sayA
- 2 -AA- climbed · handA · landA · limed
- 3 ABBA paceA · upB · cupB · faceA
- 4 -AA- aye · comeA · dumbA · yesterday
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| This is to-day, a golden summer's day | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And yet--and yet | 4 | ···· |
| My vengeful soul will not forget | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The past, forever now forgot, you say. | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| From that half height where I had sadly climbed, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I stretched my hand, | 4 | ···· |
| I lone in all that land, | 6 | ······ |
| Down there, where, helpless, you were limed. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our fingers clasped, and dragging me a pace, | 10 | //˘··/˘··· |
| You struggled up. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| It is a bitter Cup, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That now for naught, you turn away your face. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| I shall remember this for aye and aye. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Whate'er may come, | 5 | ˘˘/·· |
| Although my lips are dumb, | 6 | ······ |
| My spirit holds you to that yesterday. | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
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.