To the Memory of Mary Young
God has his plans, and what if weWith our sight be too blind to seeTheir full fruition; cannot he,Who made it, solve the mystery?One whom we loved has fall'n asleep,Not died; although her calm be deep,Some new, unknown, and strange surpriseIn Heaven holds enrapt her eyes.
And can you blame her that her gazeIs turned away from earthly ways,When to her eyes God's light and loveHave giv'n the view of things above?A gentle spirit sweetly good,The pearl of precious womanhood;Who heard the voice of duty clear,And found her mission soon and near.
She loved all nature, flowers fair,The warmth of sun, the kiss of air,The birds that filled the sky with song,The stream that laughed its way along.Her home to her was shrine and throne,But one love held her not alone;She sought out poverty and grief,Who touched her robe and found relief.
So sped she in her Master's work,Too busy and too brave to shirk,When through the silence, dusk and dim,God called her and she fled to him.We wonder at the early call,And tears of sorrow can but fallFor her o'er whom we spread the pall;But faith, sweet faith, is over all.
The house is dust, the voice is dumb,But through undying years to come,The spark that glowed within her soulShall light our footsteps to the goal.She went her way; but oh, she trodThe path that led her straight to God.Such lives as this put death to scorn;They lose our day to find God's morn.
Words in this poem
- fruition n.
- Use or possession of anything, especially such as is accompanied with pleasure or satisfaction; pleasure derived from possession or use. [OF. fruition, L. fruitio, enjoyment, fr. L. frui, p. p. fruitus, to use or enjoy. See Fruit, n.]
- enrapt p. a.
- Thrown into ecstasy; transported; enraptured. [Pref. en- + rapt. Cf. Enravish.]
- undying a.
- Not dying; imperishable; unending; immortal; as, the undying souls of men.
- 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,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Memory of Mary Young 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 the Memory of Mary Young, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/to-the-memory-of-mary-young.html, id L00585.
Form and metre
To the Memory of Mary Young is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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 AAA-BBCC weA · seeA · heA · mystery · asleepB · deepB · surpriseC · eyesC
- 2 AABBCCDD gazeA · waysA · loveB · aboveB · goodC · womanhoodC · clearD · nearD
- 3 AABBCCDD fairA · airA · songB · alongB · throneC · aloneC · griefD · reliefD
- 4 AABBCCCC workA · shirkA · dimB · himB · callC · fallC · pallC · allC
- 5 AABBCCDD dumbA · comeA · soulB · goalB · trodC · godC · scornD · mornD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| God has his plans, and what if we | 8 | ········ |
| With our sight be too blind to see | 8 | ·/······ |
| Their full fruition; cannot he, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Who made it, solve the mystery? | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| One whom we loved has fall'n asleep, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Not died; although her calm be deep, | 8 | ········ |
| Some new, unknown, and strange surprise | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| In Heaven holds enrapt her eyes. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And can you blame her that her gaze | 8 | ········ |
| Is turned away from earthly ways, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| When to her eyes God's light and love | 8 | ········ |
| Have giv'n the view of things above? | 8 | ········ |
| A gentle spirit sweetly good, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The pearl of precious womanhood; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Who heard the voice of duty clear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And found her mission soon and near. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She loved all nature, flowers fair, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The warmth of sun, the kiss of air, | 8 | ········ |
| The birds that filled the sky with song, | 8 | ········ |
| The stream that laughed its way along. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Her home to her was shrine and throne, | 8 | ········ |
| But one love held her not alone; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| She sought out poverty and grief, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Who touched her robe and found relief. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| So sped she in her Master's work, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Too busy and too brave to shirk, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When through the silence, dusk and dim, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| God called her and she fled to him. | 8 | ········ |
| We wonder at the early call, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And tears of sorrow can but fall | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For her o'er whom we spread the pall; | 8 | ········ |
| But faith, sweet faith, is over all. | 8 | ········ |
| The house is dust, the voice is dumb, | 8 | ········ |
| But through undying years to come, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The spark that glowed within her soul | 8 | ········ |
| Shall light our footsteps to the goal. | 8 | ··//···· |
| She went her way; but oh, she trod | 8 | ········ |
| The path that led her straight to God. | 8 | ········ |
| Such lives as this put death to scorn; | 8 | ········ |
| They lose our day to find God's morn. | 8 | ··/····· |
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.