Tuskegee, Ala., April 22, 1901
Not to the midnight of the gloomy past,Do we revert to-day; we look uponThe golden present and the future vastWhose vistas show us visions of the dawn.
Nor shall the sorrows of departed yearsThe sweetness of our tranquil souls annoy,The sunshine of our hopes dispels the tears,And clears our eyes to see this later joy.
Not ever in the years that God hath givenHave we gone friendless down the thorny way,Always the clouds of pregnant black were rivenBy flashes from His own eternal day.
The women of a race should be its pride;We glory in the strength our mothers had,We glory that this strength was not deniedTo labor bravely, nobly, and be glad.
God give to these within this temple here,Clear vision of the dignity of toil,That virtue in them may its blossoms rearUnspotted, fragrant, from the lowly soil.
God bless the givers for their noble deed,Shine on them with the mercy of Thy face,Who come with open hearts to help and speedThe striving women of a struggling race.
Words in this poem
- revert v. t.
- To turn back, or to the contrary; to reverse. [L. revertere, reversum; pref. re- re- + vertere to turn: cf. OF. revertir. See Verse, and cf. Reverse.]
- 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,]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- friendless a.
- Destitute of friends; forsaken. [AS. freóndleás.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- unspotted a.
- Not spotted; free from spot or stain; especially, free from moral stain; unblemished; immaculate; as, an unspotted reputation.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tuskegee, Ala., April 22, 1901 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, Tuskegee, Ala., April 22, 1901, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/tuskegee-ala-april-22-1901.html, id L00781.
Form and metre
Tuskegee, Ala., April 22, 1901 is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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- pastA · upon · vastA · dawn
- 2 ABAB yearsA · annoyB · tearsA · joyB
- 3 ABAB givenA · wayB · rivenA · dayB
- 4 ABAB prideA · hadB · deniedA · gladB
- 5 ABAB hereA · toilB · rearA · soilB
- 6 ABAB deedA · faceB · speedA · raceB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not to the midnight of the gloomy past, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Do we revert to-day; we look upon | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The golden present and the future vast | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Whose vistas show us visions of the dawn. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor shall the sorrows of departed years | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| The sweetness of our tranquil souls annoy, | 10 | ·/˘·//˘·˘/ |
| The sunshine of our hopes dispels the tears, | 10 | ·/··/·˘/·· |
| And clears our eyes to see this later joy. | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| Not ever in the years that God hath given | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Have we gone friendless down the thorny way, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Always the clouds of pregnant black were riven | 11 | /····/˘··/˘ |
| By flashes from His own eternal day. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| The women of a race should be its pride; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| We glory in the strength our mothers had, | 10 | ·/˘···//˘· |
| We glory that this strength was not denied | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| To labor bravely, nobly, and be glad. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| God give to these within this temple here, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Clear vision of the dignity of toil, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| That virtue in them may its blossoms rear | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Unspotted, fragrant, from the lowly soil. | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| God bless the givers for their noble deed, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Shine on them with the mercy of Thy face, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who come with open hearts to help and speed | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The striving women of a struggling race. | 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.