Minnie Lee
She has left us, our own darling--And we never more shall seeHere on earth our dearly loved one--God has taken Minnie Lee.
Her heart was full of goodnessAnd her face was fair to seeAnd her life was full of beauty--How we miss our Minnie Lee!
But her work on earth is overAnd her spirit now is freeShe has gone to live in heaven--Shall we weep for Minnie Lee?
Would we call our angel darlingBack again across the sea?No! but sometime up in heavenWe will meet loved Minnie Lee.
Sweet poetess, your poetryIs bad as bad can be,And yet we heartily deploreThe death of Minnie Lee.
It would have pleased us betterIf, in His wisdom, HeHad taken you, sweet poetess,Instead of Minnie Lee.
Your turn will come, however,And swift and sure 'twill beIf you continue sendingYour rhymes on Minnie Lee.
From this we hope you will gatherA dim surmise that weDon't take much stock in poemsConcerning Minnie Lee.
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,]
- sometime adv.
- At a past time indefinitely referred to; once; formerly.
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Minnie Lee is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Minnie Lee, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/minnie-lee.html, id L11576.
Form and metre
Minnie Lee is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 darling · seeA · one · leeA
- 2 -A-A goodness · seeA · beauty · leeA
- 3 -A-A over · freeA · heaven · leeA
- 4 -A-A darling · seaA · heaven · leeA
- 5 -A-A poetry · beA · deplore · leeA
- 6 -A-A better · heA · poetess · leeA
- 7 -A-A however · beA · sending · leeA
- 8 -A-A gather · weA · poems · leeA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She has left us, our own darling-- | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| And we never more shall see | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Here on earth our dearly loved one-- | 8 | ···//˘·· |
| God has taken Minnie Lee. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Her heart was full of goodness | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And her face was fair to see | 7 | ······· |
| And her life was full of beauty-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| How we miss our Minnie Lee! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But her work on earth is over | 8 | ········ |
| And her spirit now is free | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| She has gone to live in heaven-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Shall we weep for Minnie Lee? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Would we call our angel darling | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Back again across the sea? | 7 | ·˘/˘/·· |
| No! but sometime up in heaven | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| We will meet loved Minnie Lee. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Sweet poetess, your poetry | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Is bad as bad can be, | 6 | ······ |
| And yet we heartily deplore | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| The death of Minnie Lee. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It would have pleased us better | 8 | ····˘·/˘ |
| If, in His wisdom, He | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Had taken you, sweet poetess, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Instead of Minnie Lee. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Your turn will come, however, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And swift and sure 'twill be | 6 | ······ |
| If you continue sending | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Your rhymes on Minnie Lee. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From this we hope you will gather | 8 | ······/˘ |
| A dim surmise that we | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Don't take much stock in poems | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Concerning Minnie Lee. | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
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.