To Dan
Step me now a bridal measure,Work give way to love and leisure,Hearts be free and hearts be gay--Doctor Dan doth wed to-day.
Diagnosis, cease your squalling--Check that scalpel's senseless bawling,Put that ugly knife away--Doctor Dan doth wed to-day.
'Tis no time for things unsightly,Life's the day and life goes lightly;Science lays aside her sway--Love rules Dr. Dan to-day.
Gather, gentlemen and ladies,For the nuptial feast now made is,Swing your garlands, chant your layFor the pair who wed to-day.
Wish them happy days and many,Troubles few and griefs not any,Lift your brimming cups and sayGod bless them who wed to-day.
Then a cup to Cupid daring,Who for conquest ever faring,With his arrows dares assailE'en a doctor's coat of mail.
So with blithe and happy hymningAnd with harmless goblets brimming,Dance a step--musicians play--Doctor Dan doth wed to-day.
Words in this poem
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- hymning a.
- Praising with hymns; singing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Dan 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 Dan, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/to-dan.html, id L00830.
Form and metre
To Dan is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABB measureA · leisureA · gayB · dayB
- 2 AABB squallingA · bawlingA · awayB · dayB
- 3 AABB unsightlyA · lightlyA · swayB · dayB
- 4 AABB ladiesA · isA · layB · dayB
- 5 AABB manyA · anyA · sayB · dayB
- 6 --AA daring · faring · assailA · mailA
- 7 AABB hymningA · brimmingA · playB · dayB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Step me now a bridal measure, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Work give way to love and leisure, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Hearts be free and hearts be gay-- | 7 | ······· |
| Doctor Dan doth wed to-day. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Diagnosis, cease your squalling-- | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Check that scalpel's senseless bawling, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Put that ugly knife away-- | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Doctor Dan doth wed to-day. | 7 | /˘····· |
| 'Tis no time for things unsightly, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Life's the day and life goes lightly; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Science lays aside her sway-- | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Love rules Dr. Dan to-day. | 6 | ······ |
| Gather, gentlemen and ladies, | 8 | /˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| For the nuptial feast now made is, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Swing your garlands, chant your lay | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For the pair who wed to-day. | 7 | ······· |
| Wish them happy days and many, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Troubles few and griefs not any, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Lift your brimming cups and say | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| God bless them who wed to-day. | 7 | ······· |
| Then a cup to Cupid daring, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Who for conquest ever faring, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| With his arrows dares assail | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| E'en a doctor's coat of mail. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So with blithe and happy hymning | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And with harmless goblets brimming, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Dance a step--musicians play-- | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Doctor Dan doth wed to-day. | 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.