Burial of Sarah. 63
The son of Zohar answered him,"Hearken, my lord, to me;Before our sons, the field and caveI freely give to thee."
"I will not take it as a gift,"The grand old man then said;"I pray thee let me buy the placeWhere I may lay my dead."
And with the promise in his heart,His seed should own that land,He gave the shekels for the fieldHe took from Ephron's hand.
And saw afar the glorious dayHis chosen seed should tread,The soil where he in sorrow layHis loved and cherished dead.
Words in this poem
- zohar n.
- A Jewish cabalistic book attributed by tradition to Rabbi Simon ben Yochi, who lived about the end of the 1st century, a. d. Modern critics believe it to be a compilation of the 13th century. Encyc. [Heb. z candor, splendor.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Burial of Sarah. 63 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Burial of Sarah. 63, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/burial-of-sarah-63.html, id L10604.
Form and metre
Burial of Sarah. 63 is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 31% 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 him · meA · cave · theeA
- 2 -A-A gift · saidA · place · deadA
- 3 -A-A heart · landA · field · handA
- 4 ABAB dayA · treadB · layA · deadB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The son of Zohar answered him, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "Hearken, my lord, to me; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Before our sons, the field and cave | 8 | ··/····· |
| I freely give to thee." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "I will not take it as a gift," | 8 | ········ |
| The grand old man then said; | 6 | ······ |
| "I pray thee let me buy the place | 8 | ········ |
| Where I may lay my dead." | 6 | ······ |
| And with the promise in his heart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His seed should own that land, | 6 | ······ |
| He gave the shekels for the field | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He took from Ephron's hand. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And saw afar the glorious day | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| His chosen seed should tread, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The soil where he in sorrow lay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His loved and cherished dead. | 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.